What Are The Odds? COMPLETED
by shazzablue
Summary: This is a JackRiddick romance that takes place 13 years after the crash of the HG. Jack has established herself as an engineer on a space station and Riddick is just passing through. Chapter 38 - Preview of possible sequel - Beating the Odds R&R!
1. Chapter 1 Jack

Pitch Black and the characters of Jack and Riddick (unfortunately) are not mine in any way shape or form and I do not claim them as such. I won't make any money from this fan fiction so I hope Universal won't come after my butt for using their characters. Please be kind if you review. I will accept constructive criticism gracefully (I hope) but FLAMING ISN'T CONSTRUCTIVE! If you just hate it on principal, get over it and don't read anymore. I have to thank my very best friend for helping me out by reading this first (and telling me it didn't suck). Thanks, Sis!  
  
Chapter 1 - Jack  
  
The smell of death hung around her, all around, she had nowhere to go and there was only a quickly fragmenting piece of bone between her and certain death. Then he was there. Her savior. Her dark knight. He had faced down a horrible beast for her. He was her hero.  
  
Jack woke to the sound of the alarm ringing. She silenced the intrusion with an annoyed swipe of her hand that nearly cleared off her bedside table. Sighing heavily, she threw back the covers and sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, holding on to the last vestiges of her dream. While most people would see it as a nightmare, she could never see it that way. It was one of her fondest memories of Riddick.  
  
Standing in the dim light of the bathroom, she went through the same routine she had every morning. Pee, shower, brush her teeth, floss, braid her hair. It was the same every day. Routine. Safe. Just like Riddick had wanted for her, a nice, safe, boring life. Funny, she'd never in her life felt as safe as she had during her short time with him.  
  
In her mind she understood why he had left her with Imam. Even now, she could even see his face, his eyes, as he explained it to her. "Jack, you need to be a kid. Don't try to grow up too fast, and don't go thinkin' that life on the run is somethin' glamorous. I'd give anything if I could just rest for a while." She knew he meant it. But to a 12 year old it seemed like he'd lived the most exciting life there was.   
  
At 12 she was hurt and felt somewhat betrayed by the man she'd chosen as her idol. She had imagined flitting around star systems with him, running from the law, just like a modern day Bonnie and Clyde. At 16 she harbored a young girl's crush, still seeing him as her own personal dark knight. She had dreamed of him stealing into her room one night, professing his undying love for her and taking her away with him. At 18, she'd gone off to college, still carrying with her the scrapbook she'd filled with every news clipping, every picture she could find of him. She followed every reported sighting. He'd become more popular to spot than Elvis had back in the 20th century. At 21, she'd made love for the very first time under a perfect, starlit sky with the sweetest boy in her class and still, when she closed her eyes she saw Riddick's face.   
  
Now at 25 she was six months out of the New Sydney Engineering Academy, one of the best engineering schools in the charted sectors. She'd worked hard to get there and Imam had been so proud of her. It wasn't easy to beat out 500 other students in her senior class for the coveted scholarship, but she'd done it. If she was nothing else, she wasn't a quitter. That was something else Riddick had taught her. Never give up.  
  
Her hard work had paid off. When she'd graduated from the academy, she'd been in the top 10% of the graduating class. That, along with glowing letters of recommendation from her professors, had netted her a job on Orion Station. She'd packed her bags and moved out into the brand spanking new station to start her new life. Weight and space limits on baggage had forced her to leave her scrapbook, which was now more like a foot locker filled with memorabilia, behind in favor of needed things like clothes and her personal computer. But memories didn't take up any space, and she'd always have those with her.  
  
Looking at herself in the mirror, she smiled. It was a rueful smile, "How pathetic are you? Still pining over someone you've not seen in 13 years who probably wouldn't recognize you if he ran over you." She shook her head, flinging water at her reflection in the mirror and laughing at herself. 


	2. Chapter 2 Riddick

Chapter 2 - Riddick  
  
Riddick rubbed a callused hand over his face, releasing a sigh as his small ship docked with the station. He'd been holding his breath that the codes he'd stolen would work long enough to get refueled and resupplied. Looked like, for once, his luck was going to hold out. Doing the final system shutdown, he left the cockpit and went to his quarters to get cleaned up before going to the docking office to fill out the necessary paperwork.   
  
Orion Station was pretty new; it hadn't had time to get seedy like most other deep space stations. He looked at himself in the mirror, a rueful smile touching his mouth, and just knew he'd stick out like a sore thumb. But maybe the low population of criminal elements on the station would work for him instead of against him. Maybe, just this once, he'd stay lucky and no one would recognize him. He just had to make it through this fuel stop. A new mining colony had opened in the Orion sector and they were in such desperate need for miners that they didn't ask many questions. If he could make it there he'd be home free. At least for a while.  
  
It had been 13 years since the crash of the Hunter-Gratzner. 13 years since the death of Johns. For a while, he guessed, everyone assumed he was dead too and no one bothered looking for him. After leaving Jack and Imam, he was able to take a job on a mining colony in the Valerion sector. It had been hard, backbreaking work, but no one asked too many questions and his eyes weren't so out of place. There were even one or two old timers, career miners, who had a shine job just like his.   
  
Everyone knew him as John Jackson and no one got in his face there. Oh, he'd had one or two pissing contests with some of the wannabes, but nothing he couldn't handle and after he'd shown them they weren't the baddest dogs in the pen, they'd left him alone. In the end, though, it had been his own stupidity that had led to his downfall.  
  
During the first four years he mined on Caspari 1, he didn't let himself get close to anyone. He was always better alone, anyway. Easier to watch his back if he didn't have to worry about watching someone else's. At least that's what he always told himself when the tear streaked face of a 12 year old, possibly the only person alive in the universe who cared if he lived or died, popped unwanted into his head. He sometimes wondered what had happened to her with Imam. He knew the holy man would take care of her, if she'd let him. He hoped she had.  
  
Doing the lone wolf thing worked for him. That was until he saw one of the new kids getting trounced by one of the wannabes and stepped in to stop it. The guy doing the pounding was Case Lockhart, the one that Riddick himself had put in his place. Apparently Lockhart had decided to start looking for smaller prey. Normally, Riddick might not have said anything, but something about the newbie reminded him of Jack. Maybe it was the too loose clothes or the stupid hat the kid was wearing, or maybe it was just the twerp's cocky attitude. Either way, he couldn't stand by and watch him get the shit kicked out of him. It hadn't taken much to pull the other guy off and show him the error of his ways and before he knew it he had a new best friend. Whether he wanted one or not.  
  
Danny was barely 17, tall and lanky; 5'11" and 125 lbs soaking wet. He was a good kid who'd had a bad life. *Well join the club,* Riddick had thought once, some of the old bitterness coming back. No matter what he did, he couldn't get the kid to leave him alone. It was like having a shadow. It was almost funny. After a while he got used to him, he actually started liking the stupid jokes he always told. Maybe it wasn't so bad letting someone get close after all. Or maybe it was. It always amazed Riddick how one moment could change your life forever.  
  
Caspari 1 had two things of note on the barren surface. The mining colony and the small city next to it. The city was really nothing more than a handful of stores, bars and brothels, but what more did they really need? You picked up your paycheck at the office and took the transport over to the city to spend it. Riddick was just like every other man. He liked women and he liked to drink so he spent most of his free time at one of the bars that offered both.  
  
Riddick could still remember the night his life on Caspari changed. It had been three weeks since the miners had been given a night off. Everyone's tempers were high. They all needed to blow off some steam. The bars were crowded, and the brothels were full. There were more than the normal amount of barfights, but nothing security couldn't handle. That is until Lockhart made his fatal mistake.  
  
Danny had insisted on tagging along with Riddick to the bar he frequented most often. Most times the mousy little kid would spend his money at the small general store, putting money into the underused arcade games or playing on one of the public use computers. He wasn't much into the party scene and Riddick figured that was probably a good thing since most of the women there would probably chew him up and spit him out. But, against his better judgment, he took Danny along.   
  
Riddick hadn't wasted any time finding Monica. He had money in his pocket and an itch for more company than his right hand. Sitting Danny down at the bar and telling him to stay there, he'd paid the bartender 20 credits to keep an eye on the kid while he was indisposed. Most of the guys were too busy with other pursuits to care about the gawky kid so Riddick figured he'd be OK for a while without him. He realized later he'd been thinking with the wrong head.  
  
Danny did not heed Riddick's advice to stay put at the bar, instead deciding to see if he could snooker any money out of the drunks in the bar playing some pool. If there was one thing his old man had taught him it was how to play pool. He was just collecting his latest winnings when a very drunk Lockhart came cruising into the bar, demanding whiskey. Danny knew the man didn't like him, and he didn't see any need for trouble, so he started to go. Unfortunately, some of his 'opponents' weren't quite so eager to see him go, and after the tussle began, Lockhart was happy to help the others put Danny right back into his place.  
  
Riddick was just starting to have a good time when he heard the fight start. He started to ignore it, in fact Monica begged him to ignore it, holding him back as he pulled back on his pants and stepped into his boots. When he finally got back down to the bar, there was a large ring of people standing around. He pushed his way through them and that's when he saw a very shocked Lockhart standing over a very dead Danny. Everyone insisted it had been an accident, but Riddick wasn't listening. A red haze of rage had filled him and all he wanted was his hands around Lockhart's neck.   
  
Later, Riddick couldn't even remember where the knife had come from. All he could remember was Lockhart pleading for his life and the feel of his blood, warm and slick on his hands as he plunged the knife deep into his back. The sweet spot. This time he didn't miss. In the ensuing havoc, Riddick managed to steal a transport and get off the planet, Lockhart's blood still on his hands. Before morning everyone knew who he really was, and Richard B. Riddick was back on the top of every merc's shit list.  
  
That had been the better part of 8 years ago. Riddick couldn't even remember how many names he'd had or how many systems he'd been through since then. Everywhere he went, it seemed, someone was out for him. He'd die before he went back to the slam again, though he'd prefer it didn't come to that. He lived his life knowing that no place was safe. Every time he went into a bar, every time he was with a woman, every time he went to the fucking bathroom he had to watch over his shoulder. At the ripe old age of 43 he felt old, and tired, and what he really wanted more than anything else was to be able to sleep without having to keep one eye open.  
  
"C'mon, old man," he said to himself as he exited the ship, "let's see if you can keep your no good ass out of trouble today." 


	3. Chapter 3 Run In

Chapter 3 Run-in  
  
"Hey, Phillips? Come up here and give me a hand, will ya?"   
  
Jack pulled her head out of the access panel she'd been working in, plucking a small earphone out of her ear, and looked up at her partner. Using the back of her hand, she pushed at a stray lock of dark, blonde hair that had loosened itself from the braid that hung long and heavy down her back and now stuck in the sweat beading her forehead. "You say something, Davis?"  
  
The young man leaned over the catwalk, smiling down at her. "You know, you might be able to hear me better if you didn't have those things stuck in your ears." Jack smiled, flipping him the bird as she pulled the other earphone. Bright green eyes laughed out from a freckled face as Davis motioned her to come up to the catwalk. "Why, AJ, that's sexual harassment in the workplace. I could bring you up on charges." He winked at her as she sat down next to him. "Unless it was an actual offer, in which case I'll let it slide."  
  
"You wish, Carson." Jack knew that her partner had feelings for her, but she wasn't prepared to do anything about it. Carson Davis was cute in every sense of the word. Irish descent for as far back as he could remember, he had his mother's eyes and a shock of curly red hair on top of his head that he always said proved he must be the milkman's baby. He was nice enough, sweet. They'd known each other for what seemed like forever, having gone through engineering school together, and heavens knew Imam would be thrilled if she brought someone like him home for the holidays, but he just didn't spark her interest.   
  
It wasn't like she was a virgin or a prude; there had been more than a few guys she'd dated off and on. After losing her virginity to Craig Latham senior year of college, she dated some, partied, had her share of one-night stands, but there was no one she wanted anything serious with. Wiping her hands on a shop towel, she threw it playfully in Davis' face. "You know you're too wild for me, hon," she teased, "now you wanna tell me why I hauled my ass all the way up here?"   
  
Up to their elbows in schematics, it took them all morning to find and fix the problem with the water filtration unit for section D19. Finally, by lunchtime things were back up and running as they should be. Davis helped Jack up onto her feet and looked down at his watch. "Shit, we're going to have to scramble if we're going to make it to the Pavilion in time to meet Cassie and Alej for lunch." Quickly cleaning up their workspace, they ran as fast as they could to catch the transport tube that would take them up to the Pavilion. Laughing, and breathing heavily, they dropped down into their seats to enjoy the ride.  
  
The Pavilion was located on the largest level of the station. 40% of the commercial business was done on this level. There were stores and shops of every type you could want or imagine. What made it a popular place for the 'locals' was a large park-like area with real trees and grass. There was a four-foot thick plexi-steel wall spanning the entire length of the park and towering fifty feet tall. As the station rotated, you could see the Orion cluster, a star group that had 3 white stars surrounding a nebula of gasses, ice, and other inert materials. It was an absolutely breathtaking site.  
  
The gigantic space station was the size of a large city. The station consisted of twenty-two levels divided into 24 sections, A to X. There were sixteen space docks situated at various points throughout the fifteen- kilometer long hull. Twenty different residential areas and at least twice as many commercial ones filled the nearly 500 square kilometers of space. It took 12 teams of engineers and maintenance staff to keep the big bitch afloat. Roughly twice the size of New York City, what were the odds of running into a long lost friend?  
  
Riddick leaned against the customs counter as he waited for his ship's documentation to be processed, warn denim hugging the lean line of his hips as he crossed one booted foot over the other. He was tired, and hungry, and just wanted to be done with it, but there was no reason to draw attention to himself by being a complete asshole. Pushing his dark glasses back up his nose, he waited, keeping an eye out for anything unusual, anything that might indicate that he'd been noticed, but nothing in the young girl's actions indicated that she thought he was anything more than he seemed to be, a miner on his way to Tau Omicron 4.  
  
"Here we go, Mr. Torrence." The girl looked up from her computer terminal with a watery smile, handing him a keycard that would get him back into the berth where his ship was docked, an ident-a-chip that he could use should he wish to credit anything to his ship's account, and a passkey for the public computers. "There are 500 square kilometers in Orion station, but any time you feel you do not know where you are, you can use the passkey in any public terminal and find a detailed map that will help you reach your destination. If you wish to stay in one of our lovely hotel facilities, they can be found on levels 4, 8, and 14 in various sections throughout the station."  
  
Dropping the cards into a pocket of his leather jacket, he shook his head. "Thanks anyway, but I'm just holding over until I can get refueled. I'll be heading out tomorrow."  
  
A frown creased the young girl's face, and for the first time she looked nervous. "Didn't the Dock Master explain to you?"  
  
*Shit. Here it goes.* Outwardly he kept his appearance of calm, internally his guard was up. "Tell me what?"  
  
She gave him an apologetic smile. He could sense she was nervous, but it wasn't an 'oh my god, I'm dealing with a psychopathic killer' kind of nervous, it was more a 'damnit, they don't pay me enough to deal with this crap' kind of nervous. This made him feel only just slightly better. "Well, I'm sorry to have to tell you this, Mr. Torrence, but we have had so many miners coming through and all... Well, we are expecting a shipment of fuel this week." She held her hands out in a gesture of helplessness. "It will be five days, at least, before we'll be able to fuel your ship."  
  
*Fuck, fuck, fuck.* The only outward sign of his displeasure was the frown furrowing his brow, and the baseball hat he was wearing covered most of that, but damn he'd love to put his fist through something about now. "Five days? Is that the best you can do?" In five days he was supposed to be well on his way to TO4. Apparently not now.  
  
The young girl merely nodded. "I am terribly sorry, Mr. Torrence. I thought the Dock Master had informed you." She gave him another watery smile. "But to make your stay more pleasant, all our hotels are offering rooms at half their normal rates."  
  
He forced himself to give her a smile. "Thank you for your help, Louise." Turning on his heel, he took a deep breath and walked out of the customs office. *Five fucking days,* he thought, disgusted, as he walked out into the crowded shopping area, "shit."  
  
Jack and Carson jumped off the transport and started running toward Pavilion Park. Laughing and joking, they weaved in and out of the crowds like errant school children running to play. "C'mon AJ, you're getting soft," Carson chided her as they neared the park.  
  
"I can keep up with you any day, wus," she joked, running past him. A young mother, clearly agitated at being unable to find her husband, was speaking into her personal comm unit and didn't notice Jack running through the crowd. Pushing her stroller forward, she looked all around the area looking for her husband. Jack, for her part, wasn't paying much more attention and had to weave at the last moment to avoid crashing headlong into the stroller. Instead, her momentum carried her straight into a moving brick wall.  
  
Riddick had noticed the people running through the crowd, but once he realized they weren't running toward him, he relaxed a bit, seriously contemplating finding a nice, dark, bar to hole up in for the next five days until the fuel shipment arrived. He hadn't anticipated the girl weaving into him the way she did. It was all he could do to keep from staggering backward as the full weight of her slammed into him. It was instinct that made him catch her before she could fall onto the floor, though he should have just dropped her on her ass.  
  
At first, Jack didn't know what had happened. She knew she should probably be on the floor right now, but she was being held up by something. It took a moment for the realization that she'd hit someone to make it's way through her fuzzy brain. Shaking off the dazed feeling, she looked up, fully prepared to apologize profusely and thank the man for not letting her fall on her ass, but when she looked up into his face she was shocked into silence.  
  
Her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened as she looked at him and understood that she was actually awake; this wasn't a dream. He looked different, a baseball cap on his head, dark glasses, and he'd grown a goatee, but she would know him if he was dressed in drag doing the hula. This couldn't possibly be happening, he couldn't possibly be here, could he? His name hung in her throat, she was afraid to say it out loud, afraid he'd disappear. All she could manage was a weak, "I'm sorry."  
  
Riddick frowned as he looked down at the girl, she was obviously pretty shaken up but she looked like she'd seen a ghost. She couldn't know who he was, could she? *Shit,* he thought, frowning, he knew his luck couldn't hold out forever. "You ought to be more careful," he said, quietly, a hint of a warning in his gravelly voice. Nothing he could do about it right now at any rate, but he'd have to keep an eye on this one until he knew it was nothing more than just her being shaken from the impact. He read the nameplate on her uniform, *AJ Phillips.* Well, he'd have to see what he could find out about Miss Phillips.  
  
*He doesn't know it's me,* Jack thought, *how could he not know me?* The thought hurt. She managed to get her feet back under her as Carson came over to her side. "I truly am sorry," she said quietly, taking a small step back, wishing she could just throw herself into his arms.  
  
"Is everyone ok?" Carson asked, as he put a hand on her shoulder.  
  
Riddick looked over at the boy. "No blood, no foul," he said, a small smile on his face as he looked back at Jack. "Ain't that right?"  
  
"Right," she agreed, offering him a weak smile. So many things were going through her head she was having a hard time latching onto any coherent thoughts. She had to figure out what to do. "Well, we'll let you get on your way." Reluctant to let him leave, afraid she'd never see him again, she forced herself to move, pulling Carson along with her, she headed toward the park. *He's here on my station, I'll find him again, or he'll find me.* That thought wasn't quite as comforting as she thought it should be.   
  
It wasn't hard to keep an eye on the girl without being seen, especially with so many people milling about the shopping/eating area. Sitting down in a darkened corner of a small cafe, Riddick watched her as she and her friends ate their lunch. There was something oddly familiar about the girl. Something he couldn't quite place. Sipping his coffee, he watched her intently, the nagging question of what was going through her mind niggling at the back of his.  
  
Jack looked over her shoulder as they walked away, but he wasn't there. She knew it was him. It had to have been him. It wasn't some weird hallucination because hallucinations don't feel like brick walls when you run into them, nor do they keep you from falling on the floor. He had been very alive and very real and now he was very gone. But something in her knew that he was close, watching her, now she just had to make him realize she didn't mean him any harm. 


	4. Chapter 4 Anticipation

Chapter 4 - Anticipation  
  
Jack managed to eat her lunch, half listening to the conversation as her friends talked about their love lives, work, the newest feature at Virtual Fantasies that week. Normally she'd have been engrossed in the conversation, joking with her friends, teasing Alejandro for his unhealthy obsession with the virtual babe-of-the-week. Not today. Today she had other things on her mind. *Who am I to talk about unhealthy obsessions?*  
  
"Hey, Orion to AJ, you in there girl?" Cassie laughed as Jack shook herself from her thoughts. Cassie Simmons was Jack's almost complete physical opposite. The other girl had short dark hair cut into a stylish bob where Jack's wavy blonde hair was long, though she usually kept it pulled back into a braid. Cassie was curvaceous and petite, with a heart shaped face that gave her the appearance of a rather buxom Kewpie doll and garnered her more than her fair share of whistles and propositions. Jack, on the other hand, always felt like she was all arms and legs, though Cassie assured her she was lithe and athletic and always bemoaned that she wished she were built like Jack. But despite their physical differences, the girls found they had a lot in common and had become good friends since joining the crew of Orion Station.  
  
Jack smiled sheepishly at her friend. "Sorry, Cay, I guess my mind's somewhere else." She stuffed some noodles into her mouth so she wouldn't be obligated to say any more. She was glad Cassie didn't push her any further on the subject.  
  
Carson rolled his eyes. "Yeah, her mind's on that guy she nearly ran over."  
  
Jack shot him a look that would have killed if it had been possible. "No, it's not." And even if it was it wasn't anyone else's business but hers.  
  
"Oh, come on AJ. I saw the way you were looking at him as we left," Carson was teasing, but there was the slightest hint of hurt in his voice. "You looked like Alej does when he finds out they have a new program at VF." This earned him a kick under the table from Alejandro.  
  
"Come on, chica," Alejandro prompted, "spill." At 5' 11", Alejandro Reyes was barely an inch taller than Jack. He was proud of his heritage and had the looks that made most women swoon. He tried very hard to play the role of Latin lover, but his problem was that he always panicked when faced with an actual woman, hence his love of the virtual reality beauties that Virtual Fantasies offered. Some of the less kind men in their department had come to call him Crash and Burn Reyes. That had stopped abruptly when Jack had made a great show of going off with him one night at a party. She'd returned the next morning with tales of his sexual proficiency, none of which she'd actually sampled first hand (though no one but she and Alejandro knew that). Since most of the men in the department had, at one time or another, tried to get into her pants only to be shot down for their efforts, the ribbing had stopped and Alejandro had become one of her very best friends.  
  
Jack could feel the heat rising in her cheeks and knew she was blushing. Had she really looked like that? *Oh that's just great, Jack. Blushing? Could you be any more juvenile?* Best way to deal with her friends and nip this conversation in the bud was to tell them what they wanted to hear. "Yeah, you're right," she told them, giving her best, smart-assed grin. "Right after he handed me my ass for nearly killing him I was going to jump his bones. Tear his clothes off and do him right there on the concourse, are you happy now?" The mental image she had in her mind of doing just that sent heat to other parts of her body. Lord, God, she was going to have to pull herself together before she went looking for him. She gave them what she hoped was a look of bored disinterest. "Now can you pass me the vegetable lo-mien?" After a few good-natured jibes, the conversation drifted to other, safer, subjects for which Jack was exceedingly grateful.  
  
The rest of the workday passed so slowly Jack was beginning to wonder if they'd become the victim of some sort of weird time/space distortion. She had to fight to keep her mind from drifting to Riddick. That was no easy task, especially when she could almost feel his eyes on her. Was he watching her, or was it just her overactive imagination?  
  
Finally it was time to clock out. She'd never been so glad to leave work since she'd moved to Orion Station. Showering quickly, she dressed in the workout clothes she'd brought with her, having intended to stop by the gym on her way home, and slung her backpack over her shoulder. She called goodbyes to her co-workers and headed for the transport tube. Where to begin in her search? In the end, the best she could come up with was to start where she'd last seen him. The Pavilion.  
  
If she'd hoped to find him just waiting there for her, she was disappointed. Not that she really expected that, but it would have made things a hell of a lot easier. Sitting down on one of the many benches spread throughout the park, she opened her backpack. She pulled out her small, handheld computer, exceedingly glad that she'd thought to pack it that morning. For what she was doing, she didn't want to use the public terminals. Uplinking to the station's computer system through the integrated comm-link, she quickly by-passed the system's security measures and was soon in the customs' office datafile. Jack was pretty sure he must have been coming from the customs department when she'd nearly run over him. If that was the case, then that meant he'd come on a personal transport. Anyone coming in on a commercial flight had to go through the station's equivalent of an immigration department. The customs office was just for people who had ships docked at Orion.  
  
It had been a toss-up while Jack was at college whether she would major in computer sciences or engineering and physics. She loved them both. As a teenager, Imam had instilled in her a healthy respect for the hands-on aspects of engineering, hoping to channel her youthful exuberance into something constructive. In addition to being something of a holy man for his people, he was an engineer, and growing up she had learned a lot from him. In the end, she had gone into her current vocation partially out of respect for her pseudo-father, and partially because she truly enjoyed the aspects of finding a problem and fixing it. That didn't mean she didn't still love computers, she just focused those interests into more entertaining things, like learning how to hack through security systems.  
  
It didn't take long to pull up the list of ships that had docked at this particular spacedock that day and the names of their captains. There were ten. Of course he wasn't going by Richard B. Riddick, so the names didn't really help her much. She was able to eliminate three of the ships as they were captained by women, and that was one disguise he'd NEVER be able to pull off. That left seven. Of those, only two had arrived before lunch. And of those two, only one listed a one-man crew. James Torrence, Captain of the Persephone. A miner on the way to Tau Omicron IV. She thought back to the way he'd been dressed and the image fit. "Bingo." Jack smiled triumphantly as she made note of the berth the ship had been assigned to. Backing out of the system the way she'd gone in, she turned off the small computer and slipped it back into her bag. *Now what?* she asked herself, hitching the backpack higher. *Just go up and knock on the door? See if someone's home?* Since she didn't have any other options, she'd have to go with it.  
  
Jack could feel the excitement building within her. She was close, so close to seeing Riddick again. How many times had she dreamed of this? How many times had she wondered where he was, what he was doing? And now he was here and she was going to have the chance to see him again. What would they talk about? Would they talk? Would he even care what had been going on in her life? Maybe he'd just blow her off, or worse. A hint of doubt inched its way into her mind. What if everyone else was right about Riddick? What if she was completely wrong and her memory of him was nothing more than a child's fantasy version of the real man. No, she couldn't believe that, she wouldn't believe that. Carolyn Fry had thought he was worth trying to save, even at the risk of her own life. Imam had known him then too, and he knew that there was more to Riddick than what most people saw. And, besides, what kind of coward would she be if she didn't take this opportunity? Settling her backpack on her shoulder again, she walked out of the park, too engrossed in her own internal conflict to sense the eyes that had been watching her the entire time. 


	5. Chapter 5 HunterPrey

Chapter 5 - Hunter/Prey  
  
Riddick had been watching the girl for the better part of the day, what time he hadn't been able to watch her, he'd spent looking up what he could about her in the public terminals without sending off any stalker alarms. It wasn't much. There were 47 Phillips, A.J. listed in the station directory. Cross-referencing it with the engineering staff, he was able to narrow it down to just one. Audrey J. Phillips, Engineer. Taking out a piece of paper, he wrote down the address given in the directory and tucked it into his pocket. If he wanted to know anything else about her he'd have to get into his ship's computer and try to hack into the station's system, but that could be messy and since he wasn't going to have any fuel, therefore he wouldn't have any way to get the hell of the station in a hurry, he'd probably not go that route. He preferred to use the hands on method of finding out information anyway.  
  
He followed her from a safe distance as she left work and headed back to the Pavilion where they'd 'run into' each other. She looked almost disappointed as she looked around, as if she'd expected to find someone there. Him? Maybe. Or maybe he was reading more into the look he'd seen on her face than had actually been there. After so long seeing enemies everywhere you looked, sometimes your perspective became skewed. He had decided that she probably wasn't a threat, since she hadn't set off any alarms or anything, but his instincts told him he should keep an eye on her. He'd learned a long time ago to trust his instincts. Sitting in the shadows not far from her, he watched her as she worked busily on her hand- held computer.  
  
Whatever she was working on was certainly holding her interest; she hardly looked up from her computer. He could probably have been sitting right next to her and she wouldn't have noticed. Sitting back, he studied her. She wasn't hard on the eyes, that was for sure. As far as surveillance subjects went, he'd had a lot worse.  
  
Her face shone with triumph as she dropped her computer back into her pack and fairly bounced out of the park. Riddick had all but decided to let the matter drop when he saw her heading toward the spacedock where the Persephone was berthed. That was more coincidence than he generally liked to ignore. *Shit. So much for letting it drop.*  
  
Riddick watched her as she went past the Customs office, past the Dock Master's office, and through the airlock that led to the docks themselves. He supposed it was possible that she was there to see someone, a friend, one of the dockhands, but what were the odds of that? Then when she stopped in front of the Persephone, all doubt was erased from his mind. Now it was time to get that hands on information and find out what the hell she wanted with him.  
  
Extracting himself from the darkness, Riddick strode purposefully across the dock, his booted feet sending dull echoes ringing through the cavernous room. He didn't look at the small figure now crouching in the shadow of his ship, instead he walked past the Persephone and over to one of the doors opening to an access corridor leading to self-storage style storage bins. If she followed him, he'd have her right where he wanted her. What he did with her would be up to her.  
  
She was following him. Trying to be stealthy about it, but it wasn't like he didn't know when someone was following him. He sometimes thought that instead of having his eyes shined he should have had ocular implants in the back of his head, but after all this time it was almost a sixth sense. There were two possible reasons he could think of off the top of his head that a nice lookin' kid like that would be following someone like him down a dark corridor, and from the uniform she had been wearing earlier he very seriously doubted she needed to sell her looks to the highest bidder. That left option two, she knew who he was and wanted the money. "FUCK!" He really didn't want to have to kill her, but if it was a case of "me or thee" he knew who he was going to pick.  
  
Moving around the next corner, he melded into the shadows and waited for her, pulling out the wide bladed, plexi-steel knife he kept hidden in his boot. Nice thing about plexi-steel was that it didn't show up on weapons scans, downside was you had to really know what you were doing to keep a good edge on one. That wasn't a problem for Riddick. Silent, still as death, he crouched there in the darkness, the barest hint of light glinting off the blade in his hand, and waited.  
  
Since there weren't any security guys crawling up his ass he knew she'd not told anyone he was here. The mere mention of his name would have sent red lights flashing all over a station like this, lockdown protocols would have been instituted, he would have been fucked royally if she'd spilled. Apparently she hadn't. Either she had some other agenda, which he couldn't imagine what it would be, or she must be greedy as well as pretty. Bad for her. And she must be a cocky little shit too if she thought she could take him on.  
  
Jack walked through the corridor cautiously. She knew enough to know that you didn't just walk up behind Riddick in the dark, not if you wanted to live through the experience. She also knew he realized that she'd recognized him. How could he not? She'd stood there, gaping at him, her mouth working like a dying fish before she'd finally recovered from the shock of seeing him, up close and personal, again. She mentally kicked herself. But he hadn't known her. That put her in a bad position. She knew what happened to people that knew who Riddick was and tried to cash in on it. She had to let him know who she was and that she wasn't going to turn him in. It probably would have been smarter to just hang by the ship and wait for him to come back, but seeing him walking away, she couldn't help herself. She had to go after him.  
  
The thought that he hadn't recognized her preyed on her mind. She'd been nearly nose-to-nose with him and he hadn't even known who she was. That thought hurt just a little, well, maybe more than just a little. But how could she expect him to, really? He probably hadn't even thought about her in the last 13 years. Plus, she'd changed. A lot. For one she had hair and curves she hadn't had before. She knew he'd read her nameplate on her uniform, but it said she was AJ Phillips. A for Audrey, J for Jacqueline, she'd started going by AJ in high school, he'd have no way of knowing that. He'd never even known her first or last name. During the short time she was in his company all he ever knew her as was Jack. He'd never asked and she'd been reluctant to say anything about herself on the off chance that her parents might still actually be looking for her; and she'd still held out a faint hope that he might take her with him. But, surely he would remember her if she told him who she was, right? The first hint of nerves fluttered through her. If not, she was screwed.  
  
Thinking it would be best if he knew she wasn't armed or anything, she dropped her pack by the door and held her hands loosely at her sides. It was almost funny, like trying to get a wild animal to trust you by showing them you weren't going to hurt them when you knew all it would take was a little provocation and they could tear you limb from limb. *Just show him you're a little, helpless, girl who doesn't mean him any harm and you'll be just fine.* He wouldn't hurt an unarmed person, right?  
  
*Wait for it,* Riddick told himself as the girl came around the corridor, looking from side to side, *just a few steps more.* She walked right past his hiding spot, looking directly at him without seeing him. He could have been standing right next to her and she wouldn't have known he was there. Looking her over, head to toe, as she passed, he couldn't help the appreciative grin that spread over his face as he watched her. Nice curves, long legs, she looked strong but soft in all the right places. The tight fitting pants and top she was wearing not only showed off her body pretty nicely, but it also didn't leave any doubt that, unless she had some serious tricks he didn't know about, she wasn't armed. *Now why would a sweet young thing like that be walking around down here unprotected?* he wondered, *Bait?* No, unless they were invisible there wasn't anyone else with her. *Stupid?* Well, he supposed that was a possibility, though in order to land an engineering job she must be fairly intelligent. Everything about this was wrong, it just didn't add up right.  
  
Waiting until she had moved just a little past him, he stepped in behind her. He could kill her now and she'd never even know it was coming. It'd be quiet. No muss, no fuss. But he wanted to know why. Why she was following him, why she hadn't sounded any alarms if she recognized him, and if she did recognize him, then why she was following a convicted murderer down a dark corridor completely unarmed. He tried to tell himself that curiosity killed the cat, but he was intrigued.  
  
Jack felt a slight shift in temperature behind her, her senses telling her that someone was back there a second before a large forearm closed around her chest. Instinctively she fought it, clawing at the arm and trying to remember everything she'd learned in her self-defense classes. She stilled as she felt the sharp tip of the knife pressed against her throat, felt his warm breath on her ear as he spoke. His voice was low, husky, sending her heart beating wildly, though from fear or excitement she wasn't quite sure. "You wanna tell me what a nice little girl like you's doing following a guy like me around?"  
  
He noticed that she'd stopped fighting, but that wasn't what disturbed him. Anyone with half a brain would stop squirming when they felt the tip of a knife pressed to their throat. What disturbed him was the fact that this girl seemed almost to relax when she'd heard his voice. *What's wrong with this picture?* Maybe he was just losing his touch. That thought kind of pissed him off. If he couldn't scare a little unarmed girl, how the hell was he supposed to keep the other wolves at bay? "Well?"  
  
*OK,* Jack thought, *which answer is least likely to get me killed right away?* She had to fight the urge to laugh, and wondered if she was having a complete and total mental meltdown. Her voice sounded odd to her own ears as she spoke, quiet, almost calm. "I want to help you."  
  
Well, that got his attention. "You want to help me?" What kind of game was she playing anyway? "What makes you think I need your help?"  
  
*Think quick, Jack,* she told herself. "I know your ship is stuck here for at least 5 days while we're waiting for a fuel shipment. In case you haven't noticed, we're pretty state of the art around here. You keep walking around the station for 5 days and someone is bound to recognize you." She knew it was a bluff. Orion station was huge, he could probably get lost in it for the next year without someone recognizing him as long as no one was looking. She knew he probably realized that too, but it sounded good and that was all she had.  
  
He liked the way her heart sped up as he tightened his hold on her. He could feel it pounding wildly in her chest. He could also smell a bluff a mile off. *Don't kid a kidder, sweetheart,* he thought, smiling as he pressed his lips closer to her ear. Damn, she smelled good, sweet, like flowers he couldn't put a name to, and vanilla, and an underlying hint of fear. He breathed deeply, letting the scent of her fill his senses, and found himself wishing he had time to enjoy it, but he didn't. "And just why should I trust you? If you know who I am, then you know how much I'm worth. What's to keep you from turning me in, hmm?"  
  
OK. This was it. Moment of truth. He'd either remember her or kill her now. She had to show him she wasn't afraid of him, that she trusted him, then maybe he'd trust her. Completely relaxing in his arms, she let her hands drop to her sides and leaned slightly back into him, relieving some of the pressure of his arm on her chest. "Because one time I was afraid of the dark and you chased the monsters away."  
  
The cryptic answer wasn't what he'd expected; he also hadn't expected her to relax so completely. *What?* Then it all fell together. The feeling he'd seen her somewhere before. The look on her face when she'd seen him. Suddenly he was back on that transfer station 13 years ago, with a teary eyed 12 year old begging him to take her with him. He abruptly released her, taking an involuntary step back. His knife blade had been pressed into her throat and even now she trusted him not to hurt her. "Jack?" 


	6. Chapter 6 Go Away Little Girl

Chapter 6 - Go Away Little Girl  
  
Jack turned around to face him, grinning widely. *He does remember me!* The thought filled her with glee. "You do remember me."  
  
The images in Riddick's head were clashing wildly, the image of the starry eyed kid and the image of the beautiful young woman who was standing here now. How could this possibly be the same kid? He remembered how he'd always felt about 'his' Jack, the one he remembered from the HG crash. The one he'd traveled with for a month before parting ways with her and the holy man. It had been the same way he'd felt about Danny, or some of the younger kids at the public home when he was a kid. Like a big brother. That was definitely not the way he'd been thinking about her five minutes ago. Not quite sure how he felt about the sudden change in the situation, he decided to think about it later when she wasn't standing there to cloud the issue.  
  
He frowned at her, putting his knife back in his boot sheath. She just kept smiling at him, that same smile she'd given him when he and Carolyn had gone back to the cave for her and Imam. Like Christmas morning or like he'd just given her a puppy. "Never had a doubt!" she'd said. Like he was her hero, and she'd just KNOWN in her heart that he'd not let her down. He didn't usually like thinking about that. Didn't like how close he'd come to leaving them, all of them, to fend for themselves in the dark. Just because he was a bastard who cared more about his own ass than anyone else's. "That wasn't the smartest thing you've ever done, kid." Truth was he didn't know what she had or hadn't done in her life, but he was pretty sure following a dangerous criminal down a dark corridor wasn't among the most intelligent.  
  
She wanted to hug him, but she didn't know how he'd react, and if he pushed her away it would kill her so she decided to keep her distance. For now. She felt like an idiot, but she couldn't stop smiling. "I knew you wouldn't hurt me."  
  
"You always did have more faith in me than you should have," he said under his breath as he turned and started back down the hall.  
  
*OK, well, that could have gone better.* Jack felt her heart drop as she turned watching him walk away, her smile beginning to fade. "Is that it?"  
  
Riddick stopped, his shoulders dropping almost imperceptibly. He started to not turn, not look at her, but he did anyway. "What else do you want?"  
  
She felt awkward, how did she answer that? Everything she wanted was so simple and yet so very complicated. She spread her hands, shrugging. Her voice was quiet when she spoke. "I don't know, I just thought...just thought maybe we could...you know...talk or something."  
  
A humorless smile touched Riddick's face. "What would we have to talk about, kid?"  
  
It amazed her that one moment she could feel like a 25 year old woman, and with one look, one sentence he could make her feel like an awkward 12 year old again. She'd be damned if she would beg him to stay again. Ruthlessly pushing her awkwardness away, she squared her shoulders and faced him. "I'm sorry. I thought you might care to hear what happened to me after you left me." *I care what happened to you,* she added silently.  
  
*She's got a temper,* he thought, making himself not smile. Tempers could be useful so long as you didn't let them get away from you. "You look like you grew up healthy, you've got a good job and friends. I can see that Imam did a good job." He shrugged slightly. "What more do I need to know?" Why did he feel like one of those asshole fathers who drops their kid off one day only to get confronted by them half a lifetime later? He wasn't her father, which was a damn good thing considering the thoughts he'd had about her before. He was just some jerk who'd gone against his better judgment and did a decent thing once upon a time. As usual, it came back to bite him in the ass.  
  
She didn't know what she'd expected from him. She was just a kid he'd known for a month more than a decade ago. Still, it felt like someone had put a vice around her heart and started squeezing. Hugging her arms around her waist, she nodded, smiling sadly. "Yeah. He did. Thanks."  
  
A light flashed down the corridor followed by a man's gruff voice. "Hey, anyone in here? I'm getting ready to lock down for the night."  
  
Jack looked the direction of the voice and was blinded momentarily by the bright beam of the flashlight. She put a hand up to block the glare, looking around for Riddick, only to find him gone. "Shit." He was gone and she knew she would have to work hard to find him again. She'd never have found him this time if he hadn't wanted her to. He'd led her into that storage facility so he could capture her; he'd probably known where she was every step of her day since lunchtime. She wasn't a tracker or a bounty hunter, if he didn't want her to find him chances were she wasn't going to. So why bother.  
  
"Hey, is this yours?" The guard said, holding her bag out to her. "You done in here? I gotta lock up."  
  
She took her bag from him, following his silent suggestion that she leave with him. "Yeah. I was just looking for my cat, he likes to come down here and look for mice and rats sometimes."  
  
The guard flashed his light from side to side as they walked back to the dock door. "Well, next time you wanna go lookin' around the warehouses you should get one of us guys to go with ya. It ain't safe walking around down here all by yourself." He ushered her out the door and locked it behind him.  
  
"Thanks. But I can take care of myself." Shouldering her bag, she headed back to the airlock that would lead her back out to the concourse, using her keycard to let herself back into the station. You couldn't get back into the station without going through the Dock Master and Customs offices unless you had a keycard. Being a resident of the station gave you more access than a visitor, and being an engineer she could get into all but the most restricted areas. A swipe of a card and she was back where she started.  
  
Standing on the concourse, she just felt kind of empty inside. She was beginning to realize how stupid she had been. She was twenty-five years old, she should know better than to believe dreams and fantasies could come true, but she'd always been a romantic at heart. *That's what a healthy dose of reality tastes like, Jack,* she told herself, chiding herself for her naiveté, *it's an acquired taste you should get used to.* But even though she knew it was stupid to feel sad, she still felt the exact same way as she remembered feeling when one of her classmates in third grade had told her there was no Santa Claus; in her mind she'd known it, but it hurt her heart to find out it was true. Feeling the need to kick some ass, even if it was just her own, she headed for the transport tube that would take her to her gym. 


	7. Chapter 7 Riddick Revisited

Author's Note: I'm so glad people are enjoying the story. Thanks SO much for the reviews, it makes me want to write even more! I can't tell you how much fun I'm having with it (I love it when the characters practically write for themselves). I do want to apologize, up front, for this chapter. It's depressing and maudlin. It depressed me to write it LOL. I just really felt Riddick needed his story told. I promise the next chapter won't be, though. Oh, and as a special note to Arien :P LOL Love you too, Sis!  
  
Chapter 7 - Riddick Revisited  
  
Carnal Pleasures was the name of the bar Riddick had finally walked into after leaving Jack standing in the dark warehouse, thinking the name held promise. He found a table in a dark corner and sat down, ordering a shot of Black Hole whiskey with a beer chaser from the pretty waitress. A scantily clad woman danced on the stage, gyrating to the beat of the synth- metal music pounding through the sound system, but he wasn't paying attention to her. All his attention was focused on the drink he was spinning absentmindedly on the glossy surface of the table, the neon lights sending hypnotic ribbons of light dancing through the dark liquid.  
  
Riddick did not, as a rule, believe in indulging in self-reflection and contemplation of the universe. As far as he was concerned, it was a waste of time. More often than not it was a depressing pursuit that seemed like little more than an excuse to find things to beat yourself up about. Well, he figured there were plenty of other people wanting that privilege, so why should he bother. Whenever he felt the need for self-reflection rearing it's nasty little head, he usually found some other pursuit to occupy his mind and/or body. But being alone for most of your adult life left so much time for possible introspective moments that it was sometimes hard to escape.   
  
He hated the look that had been on Jack's face when he'd last seen her. Hated even more that he'd caused it. Like she found out he'd just killed Santa Claus and had cooked Rudolph up for a New Year's barbeque. *Damnit!* Why should it matter what she thought anyway? What was she to him? For that matter, what was he to her? The answer was nothing, and that left him feeling emptier than usual. Sighing heavily, he drank the shot, slamming the glass back down on the table hard enough for the heavy glass to ring.  
  
Contrary to popular belief, Richard B. Riddick wasn't an animal that enjoyed killing people. Just because he was good at it didn't mean he liked it. And he hadn't started out in life wanting to hurt people. Even as a child, thrown away by his own mother, who'd grown up in a state-run group home, he had been a dreamer, a believer. There was a time, a long, long time ago, when he'd actually thought he'd make something of his life.  
  
Once upon a time Riddick had thought he could make a difference. At eighteen he'd left the public home he'd lived in all his life, and the girl he loved, and joined the Rangers as a chance to see the galaxy and maybe do something good. Maybe become a hero. Make something of himself. Prove to everyone that a throwaway could amount to something. It hadn't taken long to figure out that Sigma 3 wasn't the best place to become a hero. Running around in the dark tunnels, flushing out Spitfires, mostly you just tried to keep from getting dead. He guessed the miners that didn't get fried probably thought they were heroes; he just figured he was bait.   
  
The day after Riddick turned twenty, the Company had sent him off to become one of the Elite. He thought *this is it, now I can become somebody, do something important,* but all they'd done was taught him how to be a killer. Well, reality was a bitch, if anyone should know that it was him. But he did what they expected of him, learned what they wanted him to learn. When he finished his training, he was one of the best, or worst, depending on your point of view.  
  
He did what they wanted him to do. He figured nobody gave a shit anyway, he knew no one in the Company did. It was just a job, right? But after a while it got to him. He saw and did more heinous things than anyone should ever have to see or do and when he couldn't sleep at night anymore he said, "enough is enough."   
  
Of course, when he'd tried to do the right thing, when he'd tried to be a hero, when he'd tried to expose the Company and all their cruelty, it had backfired spectacularly. At the ripe old age of twenty-two they'd sent him to prison, buried him in a hole so deep and dark they figured he'd never see the light of day again, at least not alive. They left him to die there, be eaten up by the scum of the galaxy, monsters in the endless dark. But he'd shown them. Instead of being eaten, he'd become exactly what they'd trained him to be, one of the monsters.   
  
It took three years before he managed to escape, to make his way out alive but not unscathed. His soft brown eyes hadn't been the only things he'd sacrificed while he was there, he also sacrificed whatever had been left of his heart, whatever little bit of the dreamer that had been left. While the doctor was shining his eyes, he nearly passed out from the pain, the only thing he could do was try to focus on something else. He called up the memory of Samantha, the day they'd lost their virginity together.  
  
They'd been awkward, neither of them knowing what to do, but trusting each other enough to try. Afterward they lay there, her long black hair spread wildly over the plaid blanket they'd taken out into the woods and had lain over the bed of autumn leaves. She had snuggled closer to him, looking up at him with her big, blue eyes, and told him that she could just look into his eyes forever. She'd made him feel loved, made him feel special.  
  
He supposed it was appropriate for him to think about that. There was probably some psychoanalytical reason for it, losing the girl/sacrificing the eyes. But Samantha had made it clear after he was sent to prison that she was moving on with her life anyway, so what did it matter if his eyes wouldn't be brown anymore? Who cared what color your eyes were in the dark? And this way he would be able to see what was lurking there. In some of his more poetic moments, he remembered someone had once said "the eyes are the windows of the soul." What did that say about him?  
  
His time there hadn't been all useless, though. He had learned three very important things in the slam. One, never trust anyone. Two, always watch your back. And three, be the last one standing. Those rules had kept him alive while he was in prison and they helped him stay out.  
  
It took two years before anyone caught up with Riddick and then only because he'd tried to get into the Company's computers to find something, anything that would exonerate him. All it had done was alert them to his whereabouts. It had been Johns that caught up with him, tried to take him while he slept, but Riddick had gotten away and Johns ended up in the hospital with part of Riddick's knife still lodged in his back. Riddick always figured it was more revenge than any real sense of justice that caused the merc to hunt him through the galaxy. Their last run-in, three years later, had ended with Johns killing two kids and threatening two more unless Riddick gave himself up. Riddick had always had a soft spot for kids.   
  
So then Johns had made the error of booking them passage on the HG, and, for once, Riddick's shit-ass luck had worked for him instead of against him. The crash had also changed his life. When Carolyn had asked him if there wasn't some part of him that wanted to become part of humanity again, he hadn't lied when he'd told her he wouldn't know how, but he hadn't answered her question either. The truth was he wasn't sure how he felt about it.   
  
He'd been so ready to leave them all, justifying to himself that he wouldn't have been able to make it to the skiff with them in tow anyway. If he hadn't left them in that cave and gone on without them, no one would have made it. Even then it had been Jack that pulled at his heart, made him question his decision to leave them there. He'd destroyed his light belt so he'd have an excuse not to go after them. But in the end Carolyn's strength had made him go back and when he'd seen the look on Jack's face, he was glad he had. Even if he'd died, he would have died trying to help them, and that made it worth it.  
  
Three days off the planet, the skiff had been picked up by a frigate heading to the Scalian system. During the month it took them to travel to the transfer station, Riddick had a chance to remember what it was like to be part of the human race. Jack had followed Riddick around like a puppy, asking him the most off the wall questions that he rarely answered, but he found he just liked listening to the kid talk. She seemed like a good kid, smart, tough. He liked her. He even got back into playing chess with the holy man each night after sending Jack to bed. It was almost...normal.   
  
When they'd gotten to the transfer station, though, he knew he was going to have to go his own way. "You must follow your own path, Mr. Riddick," Imam had told him. Though Jack had begged Riddick to let her come with him, he knew she needed to go with Imam. If she didn't want to go home there was probably a good reason, but the holy man would take good care of her and Riddick wanted that for her. He wanted her to have a good life. A chance to be something. Living through the hell she had back on that planet, she deserved it. Jack would never know how important she had been to him. Just knowing that there was even one person who believed in him, believed he was a hero, meant something to him.  
  
And now he was here and Jack was all grown up and he was having a really hard time calling back up that old memory of her face, the one that told him he wasn't as bad as everyone said he was. Every time he tried, though, he kept seeing her how she was now. He kept seeing her face lit up with a beautiful smile. He remembered her scent, the feeling of her heart pounding so hard he could feel it beating against his arm as he held her in place. The complete trust she had in him, even while he had the point of his knife pressed to her throat. He found himself wondering if she'd trust him not to hurt her if she knew the thoughts that were going through his mind now. *Jesus, Riddick,* he thought, running a hand over his head, *she's young enough to be your daughter.* Up until an hour ago he would never have thought of Jack and sex in the same thought. Now, well, now was different. Sighing, he finished off his beer and called the waitress over for another. He needed to get laid, maybe once his hormones were under control he'd be able to think more clearly. Maybe then he could put Jack back in her proper role in his mind. 


	8. Chapter 8 Surprise

Chapter 8 - Surprise  
  
Depositing her backpack in her locker, Jack stuck her wireless earphones into her ears, making sure the earclips were securely seated, and clipped the small audio player to her waistband at the small of her back. She turned up the volume so that all she could hear was the music. It helped her to concentrate, and not think about anything else. Her mind had a tendency to try to think about fifty different things at once and she'd found out a long time ago that if she listened to music it calmed the other parts of her mind and allowed her to focus. She wanted to be very focused while she beat the shit out of the equipment tonight, and she didn't want to think about anything.  
  
After doing her initial warm-up of stretches and jump rope, she was still tense. Wrapping white cloth tape around her hands to protect her knuckles, she rolled her head from side to side, stretching, trying to relax her tense muscles. No need to have to take a trip to the med unit for a pulled muscle just because she was pissed at herself for being stupid. She took a deep breath, trying to drop into her measured breathing. Dipping her hands into the chalk, she stepped up to the speed bag.   
  
Despite the breathing, despite the loud music, and despite her desire not to, she found her mind drifting to the uncomfortable subject of Riddick. *You are such an idiot, Jack,* she told herself as she hit the speed bag. *What did you really expect? Something like one of your books?* It was instinct alone that allowed her to keep the rhythm on the speedbag. If she had to answer truthfully she knew she'd say she didn't know what to expect.   
  
If someone asked her what she'd HOPED however, it would have been a different thing altogether. Maybe she'd read too many romance novels, maybe she was just still too much of a dreamer, but her reunion with Riddick this afternoon had not been anything like she'd fantasized about. Well, she thought with a smile, it had started out like some of her fantasies, but if it had ended anything like them she wouldn't be here now, beating the crap out of a poor defenseless speedbag.  
  
Giving the bag one last hit, she shook her hands out, letting the blood flow back into her fingers. She hadn't realized how tightly she'd been clenching her fists. She was more pissed with herself than Riddick, really. He was right. What did they have to talk about? Slipping on the small padded gloves, she moved to the heavy bag. She could feel the familiar burn in her muscles as she hit the bag, felt the sweat rolling down her back. A comfortable ache settled into her body, that was good, it gave her something else to focus on.  
  
As Alejandro was walking from the weight room to the lockers to pick up his stuff, he saw AJ working out on the heavy bag and looked down at his watch. It was later than she usually stayed at the gym. He'd been late because he'd had to work overtime and she hadn't been there so he hadn't expected to see her there tonight. He should have known better than to go up behind her while she was in 'the zone.'  
  
The music filling her ears and her mind concentrating on pounding the bag, she didn't hear Alejandro calling out to her as he crossed the mats. She didn't feel his presence behind her until he tapped her on the shoulder. It was instinct that made her turn, lashing out at him. Jack sucker punched Alejandro with a right hook that sent him sprawling on his ass. He was just glad, as he held his jaw, waiting for the stars to pass, that there were mats to fall on. "Ok, I'll take that as a no for dinner."  
  
Staring down at the now prone figure of Alejandro, Jack's mouth dropped open in shock. She pulled her earphones out of her ears and crouched down next to him, "Oh my God, Alej, I'm so sorry!" She held out her hand, helping him to stand up. "I can't believe I did that. Are you ok?"  
  
Accepting her hand up, he looked at her warily. "You're not going to hit me again, right?"  
  
Jack blushed, taking off her gloves and throwing them to the side. "No, I'm so sorry. I just, well, I was thinking about other stuff. And with my radio on, I didn't hear you."  
  
Rubbing his jaw and making sure it still worked, he nodded his head. "It's ok. I should have known better than to come up behind you like that. I had just thought you might want to go get something to eat when you were done."   
  
Jack sighed heavily, she was tired now, that's what she'd wanted, to tire herself out so she could go home and crash and not think about anything. "I'm sorry, hon. I just want to go home and sleep."  
  
He could see there was something wrong, but she wasn't telling so he couldn't ask. "You want to walk me home then? You can make sure I don't get mugged," he joked. He hoped maybe on the trip home she'd tell him what was wrong.  
  
The station was dark, simulated night. Studies had shown that humans in deep space functioned better when they were given the illusion of normal day and night periods. When Orion station had been built, it had been set to Earth standard day and night. During the daytime there were lights all over the station, simulating a safe form of sunlight. The lighting changed throughout the day, just as it would on earth, dawn to noon to twilight and then darkness. The only trouble with the simulated night was that the only stars were the ones that could be seen through the exterior windows of the space station. Jack sometimes missed the starlight and moonlight that filtered through atmosphere.  
  
The walk home was quiet, neither of them talking much. Since they both lived in the same apartment complex, there was nothing strange about them walking home together, they did it all the time. There was just usually more talking.  
  
Finally they were at Jack's door. She slid her keycard into the slot, waiting for the all clear light, and opened the door. Alejandro stopped her before she could go inside. "You sure you don't want to go out and get something to eat? Maybe go get a drink?"  
  
"No, Alej. I'm just going to shower and climb into bed with a book." *And hopefully I'll get some sleep without thinking about Riddick,* she thought.  
  
"Girl, you need to get out more. I know the look of sexual frustration, believe me. You haven't gone out with a guy since you got here six months ago, except for me and we both know that didn't count." Alejandro smiled at her, showing his rows of even white teeth. "Now, if you want to change that, I'd be more than happy to oblige." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.  
  
Jack couldn't help but laugh. "Thank you Alejandro. I appreciate the offer, but believe it or not I don't need a man to be fulfilled." She grinned mischievously at him. "You of all people should know that a real partner isn't actually required."  
  
Alejandro leaned his forearm on the doorframe, still smiling. AJ was probably the only woman on the entire station he wasn't intimidated by. Now if he could do this with other women he'd have it made. "Well, no, but it's a hell of a lot more fun."  
  
"No, baby. I wouldn't do that to you. It wouldn't be fair because I'd be thinking about someone else." She didn't mean to say it, hadn't even really formed the thought in her mind before it fell out of her mouth.  
  
"I'm actually OK with that, chica." Alejandro laughed and kissed her on the forehead. "Well, you know where to find me if you get lonely." He started to go, but looked down into her eyes instead. Studying them. "You know, I've never seen you like this before. You've really got it bad, don't you?"  
  
Jack shook her head, laughing mirthlessly at herself. "Yeah. I do."  
  
"Who is this mystery man anyway?" He reached up and touched his jaw gingerly, "obviously you want to beat the shit out of him, but you've got some other deep stuff going on too." Flicking the end of her nose with is fingertip, he backed out of the doorway and pulled out his own keycard. He knew AJ enough to know she'd tell him if she wanted to, otherwise he might as well forget about ever finding out. The girl knew how to keep a secret, that was for sure. "You know if you want to talk, you can talk to me."  
  
"Thanks, Alej, but this is something I need to work out on my own."  
  
"Well, whoever this guy is. I don't know if I feel sorry for him or envy him."  
  
She watched him walk down the hall to his door before closing her own. If there was anyone on the station she knew would be there for her it was Alejandro. Cassie and Carson were her friends, but Alejandro was her best friend. It hurt her just a little that she couldn't tell him everything, but she couldn't. It wasn't just about her, it concerned Riddick too. Some bonds were stronger than friendship.  
  
Dropping her backpack on the chair beside the door, she toed off her athletic shoes, stripping off her socks and rolling them into a ball as she walked through the small living area toward the short hall that would take her to her bedroom and bathroom. She didn't bother turning on the lights, the dim illumination from the fish tank that separated the kitchenette from the living room lighting the path she would know in her sleep. Engrossed in her thoughts, she didn't see the dark form sitting in the chair across the room, feet propped up on the coffee table.  
  
Sliding her fingers under the hem of the sports tank she was wearing, Jack started to pull it off as she made her way to the bathroom and the shower. She stopped mid stride, frozen in place as a gravelly voice spoke to her from the darkness. "Hello, Jack." 


	9. Chapter 9 Hot or Cold

Chapter 9  
  
A surge of fear ran through her and she thought she would jump out of her skin, a scream caught in her throat as she sucked her breath in. Her hand flew to her chest and she felt her heart fluttering wildly against her ribcage. *Well, at least it's still beating,* she thought. "Lights," she commanded in a shaky voice when she could breathe again.  
  
Then she saw him sitting there, blinking slightly as his eyes adjusted to the brightness in the room. "Lights, half," she said automatically. Then she felt anger burst within her. He brushed her off this afternoon, and now he just shows up? How DARE he scare her like that? "Riddick, you son of a bitch, what the hell do you think you're doing? How dare you come into my apartment and scare me like that!" Her hand was still pressed to her chest, her heart still beating wildly. "You scared me out of a year of my life, I swear to God." She took a deep breath and let it out shakily. "FUCK! What were you thinking?" Gesturing with her hand, she waved at his feet. "And get your DAMN boots off my coffee table."  
  
She wasn't the least bit scared of him. Even knowing all the bad stuff, or at least some of it, she had never been afraid of him. Not even as a kid. He liked that. Slowly dropping his feet to the floor, he leaned forward, elbows on knees, hands clasped, and chuckled at her. "You talk to Imam like that?"  
  
She threw her rolled up socks at his head, missing by at least a meter. "You're not Imam and he generally doesn't lurk in the dark and scare the shit out of me." She felt her heart slowing and dropped her hand. "What the hell are you doing here?" she asked a little more calmly, feeling the anger slipping away as quickly as it had come. Sitting there like that he looked completely at home, but then he looked like that no matter where he was. Damn he looked good. Dressed in a black, long-sleeved thermal shirt that clung to the hard muscles of his arms and chest, black cargo pants that bagged just a bit, and heavy black boots, he looked like a part of the darkness. That was appropriate, she thought, since that's what he was.  
  
Riddick shrugged. What was he doing there? He'd wanted to see her. After leaving whatever-her-name-was in the hotel room and going back to his ship to get cleaned up and settle in for the night, he found himself thinking about Jack again. It wasn't quite as bad as it had been before he'd gotten rid of some of his sexual frustration, but he still couldn't make her go back where she belonged. He had wanted to see her again.   
  
Against his better judgment he found himself dressing and leaving the Persephone. He dug the address out of his jacket pocket and found his way to her quarters. It wasn't like he just walked up to her door and broke in. He had knocked first, and when she didn't answer the door he almost left. Almost. But the lock was easy enough to override and before he knew it, he was sitting in her living room, waiting for her to come home. He hadn't expected someone to be with her.  
  
He didn't know why he hadn't expected her to be with anyone, she was a beautiful girl, he was surprised she didn't have fifty guys lined up to take her out every night. But if what he'd heard was right, she hadn't had a date in six months. And she'd turned this Alejandro guy down because she was thinking of someone else, someone she'd apparently just as soon beat the shit out of as have sex with. Did she mean him? If she did, well that was going to complicate things considerably. He once again told himself that he was old enough to be her father. Funny, that never really mattered to him with anyone before. It was just a good thing she hadn't invited the guy in; that could have been awkward.  
  
Riddick's first reaction to the boy standing in the doorway had disturbed him. It had taken him a moment to recognize the surge of emotion that went through him as he saw the boy's hands on her, saw him kiss her. He thought at first it just him being overprotective but then he realized what it was. Jealousy. He wasn't sure he cared for that. He didn't even know her, not really, so how could he be jealous? But the answer was simple. Even if she had changed, even if the way he looked at her had changed, part of her was still 'his' Jack, even if it was only the part that lived in his memory, and she always would be. She was the only person in the universe that cared about him and that meant something to him. It meant everything to him.  
  
"I'm sorry I scared you, Jack," he said, softly. "I knocked but you didn't answer."  
  
"I wasn't home," she said peevishly.  
  
He smiled at her, cocking his head to the side. "Which would be why I had to let myself in."  
  
She hugged her arms over her chest, hardly believing he was actually there. The question still remained, why? "Why are you here?" she asked quietly. "I thought you said we didn't have anything to talk about. You said you knew all you needed to know."  
  
He looked at her for a moment, that hurt look was back on her face and he found it had the same affect on him now as it had earlier that day. He hated that he'd caused it. *Why am I here?* he asked himself. He'd wanted to see her again and, truth be told, he wanted to push her once and for all back into that narrow concept he had of her and how he was supposed to feel about her. "I lied. I do care about you. About what's happened over the past 13 years," he amended. "I thought you might tell me what your life's been like."  
  
Her heart was pounding wildly again, but it had nothing to do with fear. *He cares about me.* The thought echoed in her mind. She wasn't quite sure what to say. "Oh. Ok." She ran a hand back over her still damp hair, and remembered she'd been on her way to take a shower. *Oh, lord. I must look like shit.* She plucked at her sweaty shirt. "Um. I was just going to take a shower," she said awkwardly.  
  
"If you'd rather I go, we could catch up later," he said quietly, though he didn't actually make any move to leave.  
  
"NO!" she said, almost too quickly. "I mean, you're here now, so why leave, right?" *You might never come back,* she thought, not voicing the fear aloud. "It won't take me long," she promised as she jogged into her room. She peeked her head back around the door. "I'll just be a minute. Have you eaten? We could order something, or I think there might be something in the kitchen I could fix, unless you're not hungry." She realized she was rambling and took a breath, forcing a smile. "We can figure it out when I get out of the shower. There's beer and water in the fridge and fruit on the counter, help yourself. Just make yourself comfortable."  
  
Shutting the door behind her, she didn't bother locking it. For one thing, she didn't imagine it would do much good if he really wanted in, and for another, she wouldn't mind if he did want in, though she wasn't actually naïve enough to believe that was going to happen. She took her hair out of the long, heavy braid and ran a brush through it. Stripping her clothes off quickly, she jumped into the shower. She wondered for a brief moment, chuckling to herself, if she should go for a hot shower or a cold one before turning the water on as hot as she could stand.  
  
A thousand thoughts raced through her mind as she washed away the sweat from her workout. She couldn't believe that Riddick was actually sitting in her living room. True, he'd nearly given her a heart attack, but the fact still remained that he was here. If he hadn't scared her to death first, it would have been nice to find him there when she got home. Suddenly a thought occurred to her, he'd been sitting there the whole time she'd been talking to Alejandro. She felt her face flush red and it had nothing whatsoever to do with the hot water. "Oh, NO." She leaned her head against the cool wall of the shower. "He heard everything we said." As she watched the soapy water swirl down the drain, she wished she could go with it. 


	10. Chapter 10 Shall We Play A Game?

Chapter 10 - Shall We Play A Game?  
  
Riddick watched her go, noting that he hadn't heard her lock engage. "Interesting," but he wasn't going to indulge his curiosity and check the door to see. Instead, he headed for the kitchen, sidestepping the shoes left on the floor. He hadn't actually been there that long before Jack had shown up, only a few minutes, so he hadn't really looked around her apartment. There was a jacket on the floor under the chair that she'd dropped her backpack in. Stacks of books lined the wall separating the living room from what he assumed was the bedroom. There were notebooks and papers piled around the computer station in the corner. Music discs and vid-discs in and out of their cases were stacked on and around an entertainment unit. Now that he had a chance to look around he noted, with a smile, that Jack was a slob.  
  
The kitchen was small and, unlike the living room, neat. Like she probably spent very little time in here. Looking through her cupboards he found the usual things, dishes, cereal, canned food, nothing out of the ordinary. There was, as promised, a bowl of fresh fruit on the counter. Taking a round fruit from the bowl, he scratched the peel with his thumbnail and sniffed it, smiling. A fresh orange. He had to rely on his sense of smell because, even with the colored contact lenses cutting down on the starburst glare he saw most of the time, he couldn't see many colors. Mostly just shades of gray.  
  
He was glad it was an orange and not a grapefruit. It had been a while since he'd had any fresh fruit; he hadn't been to many nice places lately. But Orion Station was almost completely self-contained, with a hydroponics and farming bay that harvested enough fresh produce to supply the station and its visitors. HP fruits and vegetables weren't nearly as good as the real thing, grown in dirt and nursed by the sun, but it was better than anything freeze dried and beggars couldn't be choosers. Grabbing a beer out of the fridge and a plate from the cupboard, he went back into the living room to wait.  
  
Sitting back down in the chair he'd just vacated, he started to put his feet back on the table, stopping himself when he remembered her face as she'd told him to get his 'damn boots' off her coffee table. Smiling to himself, he leaned down, unlacing the boots, and pulled both them and his socks off, sitting them to the side of the chair. He didn't run around barefoot much, but he actually preferred it. Leaning back in the chair, he propped his bare feet up on the table, sitting the beer on one of the side tables and the plate with the orange in his lap.  
  
After peeling the orange and eating half of it, he could still hear the water running in the bathroom. He wondered briefly what she could possibly be doing in there that was taking so long, but realized that was not the thing to think about as he was coming up with some very interesting images in his mind. Looking for something, anything, to take his mind off that line of thinking, he picked up one of the books from the top of the stack. 'Night of the Twin Moons.'[i] The cover art depicted an alien looking world with two large moons looming over the horizon. Not exactly a classic, but from the condition of the book, it looked like it had been a favored read.  
  
Flipping open the book to one of the dog-eared pages, he very nearly spit out his beer. The scene depicted in writing was erotic to say the least, and did very little to alleviate the images flashing through his mind. Picking up two more books from the pile, he could tell from the cover art on the others that they had very similar themes. "Damn, is this all the girl reads?" He was almost afraid to look through the vid-discs. Or maybe he was intrigued. "No wonder she's sexually frustrated." But before he had a chance to peruse the vids he heard the water shut off.  
  
Jack reluctantly stepped out of the shower. She was half afraid to have to face Riddick knowing he'd heard everything she and Alejandro had said to each other, afraid she'd not be able to look him in the eye. She took the time to dry and brush out her long hair, killing time before going into the bedroom to dress. Having no idea what to wear, she chose a pair of soft, black leggings and a stretchy, royal blue t-shirt that hung halfway down her thighs, gently hugging the curves of her body. She stood for a moment at her door, taking a deep breath before walking out into the living room.  
  
When she saw him sitting there she felt her heart drop into her stomach then up into her throat before settling back to its rightful place. If she'd thought he had looked at home before she was wrong. He'd looked comfortable before, now he looked at home and sexy as hell. Her mouth felt like she'd been sucking on cotton and it felt like the temperature had increased about ten degrees from the bedroom to the living room. She saw the book he held in his long fingered hands and felt her face flush with color.  
  
He looked up from the book, grinning. "I was beginning to think I was going to have to come in there and get you." He knew that it was dangerous to tease her this way, especially when he'd promised himself that he'd keep his hands off, but it was fun to see the heat rise in her cheeks. Most of the women he associated with weren't really the type to blush.  
  
She smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. I'm going to go get something to drink, I'll be right back." She sidestepped her way into the kitchen, tripping over her shoes on the way. "Oh, that was cute," she chided herself as she pulled a beer out of the fridge and opened it, taking a large swig. "Well, on the up side, there isn't a whole lot you could do to embarrass yourself more." Rolling her eyes to the ceiling she said a silent prayer that she hadn't just jinxed herself.  
  
He noted that she seemed nervous, that made him smile. As long as she was nervous it was easier for him to remind himself that she was off limits. He did want to get to know her, find out what sort of person she had become, but the line for him was very clear (provided he didn't let her blur it). He was glad she didn't hate him; he didn't think he could have handled that, but the fact that she was apparently attracted to him, while a great ego boost, was not helpful. He couldn't let anything happen between them because in four days he would be gone from her life again and he didn't want her to hate him. He knew enough about women to know that she would feel used and betrayed and he wasn't going to let that happen.  
  
He noticed on a shelf over the fish tank there was a chess set. Moving silently across the room, he reached up and took the set down, the dust on it telling him it wasn't often used. "Do you play?" he asked her as she came back through the kitchen doorway.  
  
She hadn't expected him to be standing there, but this time she didn't jump. *Bully for me,* she thought, taking another drink of her beer, she had a feeling she was going to need another one. "Yeah, some. Imam taught me." She took a minute to look at him, at his face; really look, not just appreciating his physique. He looked so much like he had thirteen years ago and yet so different. His head was still shaved, a bit closer now than it had been then, but he had grown a goatee and when she looked closely she could see an almost imperceptible scar running from the outer edge of his lip down his chin that hadn't been there before. But those were only small changes, the biggest thing was his eyes.  
  
She found herself mesmerized by his eyes. They were a dark, liquid brown, like melted chocolate. Obviously contacts, it wasn't easy to blend in when your eyes were the color of mercury. The brown was nice, very attractive, but it seemed so strange to Jack. She had always loved his unique, quicksilver eyes. In certain light they had looked like the surface of still water, a dark mirror that disguised hidden depths. At other times they seemed like a cat's, reflective, open, and revealing the dangerous tiger that hid beneath the surface. She realized after a few minutes that she was staring, and that he was staring back at her. It embarrassed her a bit that she'd been staring so openly, but she didn't turn away.  
  
"Well?" he asked, quirking a brow.  
  
His voice was low, betraying no emotion of any kind. She couldn't tell if he was angry that she'd been staring or not, she doubted he was. "I miss your eyes." She realized what a strange thing it was to say, but that didn't seem to ever stop her.  
  
"This is what they looked like before the shine job." Or at least a good approximation. He shrugged. "What, you don't like it?"  
  
"No. I mean yes, they are very nice." She smiled, apologetically. "They just don't look like you, you know?"  
  
A strange smile played across his lips. "That was kind of the point."  
  
"Well, ok, you've got me there." Jack laughed at herself. "Sorry." She pointed to the board in Riddick's hands. "So, you want to play a game? I remember you used to enjoy playing Imam, I'm not nearly as good as him, but." she shrugged, crossing the room to flop down on the couch, feeling a little more at ease. "Might be fun anyway."  
  
Riddick's smile widened as he crossed the room, sitting the chessboard on the table and settling back into the chair. "I think that's the best offer I've had in a while."  
  
Jack's eyes widened as she tipped the bottle up for another drink. "Really? You should get out more."  
  
----------------------- [i] This is my homage to one of the most fabulous writers of all time. Jean Lorrah (an accomplished and published novelist). Night of the Twin Moons (which is a Star Trek Fan Fiction/Novella centering around Sarek and Amanda) was the first erotic fan-fic I had ever read and the stick by which I measure all the erotic fan-fic I read. All I can say is, if you EVER have a chance to get your hands on one, DO IT! My husband STILL begs me to read it LOL! It's just that good! 


	11. Chapter 11 Old Scars

Chapter 11 - Old Scars  
  
The game progressed quietly, both concentrating on the pieces in front of them. Strangely enough, it was Riddick who broke the silence. He didn't really like the sound of his own voice, but he liked listening to other people. He'd always liked the way Jack had prattled on about things. Even if what she was saying held no interest for him, he liked hearing her talking. "You're more quiet than I remember."  
  
Jack smiled, though she didn't look up from the board. "That's funny, I was just thinking that you were exactly as close mouthed as I remembered."  
  
Shrugging slightly, he sacrificed one of his pieces, hiding the edge of a smile as she took the bait. "Well, I came here to hear about you, not listen to the sound of my own voice."  
  
Frowning, a small line creasing her brow as she concentrated, Jack chewed contemplatively on her full, lower lip. "The story of my life is pretty boring actually. You already know the most exciting part."  
  
Purposefully moving his queen's bishop into harm's way, he looked up at her. She had beautiful hair, hanging loose and long over her shoulders and curling at her waist, it looked soft. Probably dark blonde or light brown, he found himself trying to call up a memory of those colors but nearly twenty years without real color hadn't left him with much of a point of reference. He wondered how long it had taken her to grow it back out. Last time he'd seen her she'd been nearly as bald as he was. "Indulge an old man's curiosity," he said with a sardonic twist to his lips, "I know why you were pretending to be a boy, but why were you running away?" He could tell from the way she tensed that she didn't want to talk about it, but at the same time he knew she would.  
  
"You're not an old man," she said, not looking up at him. He wasn't old. He could never be old. Sure there were a lot of years between them, but who was counting? Apparently he was. That thought was somewhat depressing. *He still thinks of me as a little kid.*  
  
"I'm old enough to be your dad," he reminded her, and himself, of the eighteen year age difference between them. *Keep reminding yourself of that. This is 'little' Jack. The kid with the hero-worship complex. And there are plenty of other women on the station you can indulge yourself with, so there's no need to mess with a sweet kid like her.*  
  
A frown still on her face, Jack looked up at Riddick. Did he really want to know this stuff? It seemed like ancient history now, but it still hurt a little. Old scars of what she thought of as her life before HG. It was strange that when so many other people had lost their lives on that godforsaken planet, she'd actually acquired a new one. "But you aren't my Dad," she said with conviction. "I was running away from my Dad." *I never wanted to run away from you,* she said silently to herself.  
  
He'd figured she must have been running from something or someone. She'd seemed so lost he couldn't imagine that she was running toward anything. He just nodded, not pushing her or pressing her for more information, she would tell him whatever she wanted him to know. Moving another piece on the board, he waited.  
  
Jack had waited for a reaction, waited for him to prompt her for more, that's what everyone did, at least anyone who she had opened up to. But he didn't. He just waited for her to tell him what she wanted to. Even Imam had ended up getting the information out of her, though he was a lot more subtle about it than most people. The fact that Riddick didn't press her made her want to tell him. She would have told him anyway, would have told him thirteen years ago if he'd asked. For whatever reason, she wanted him to know.  
  
Pulling a throw off the back of the couch, she wrapped it around her shoulders and pulled her knees up to her chest, hugging her legs. "When I was four, my mother and father were arrested for selling drugs on the Mars colony. The authorities managed to find out that my grandmother lived on a farm planet in the Pleiades sector," she looked up at him, his full attention now on her. It was a little disconcerting so she looked away, focusing instead on the fish swimming in the tank. "So they sent me to live with her. It was nice, a little boring because there weren't that many kids there my age, but she was nice to me." A smile touched her lips as she remembered her grandmother. She had been a formidable woman, strong, and she'd worked hard, but she had always been good to Jack.  
  
"She called me her little pixie," Jack laughed and looked back at Riddick. "I so do not look like my grandmother, I take more after my mother I suppose," her smile faded as she remembered the frail woman who she had last seen when she was four years old. "My parents were sent to a penal colony and my mother died while she was there."  
  
Taking a deep breath, she blew it out. "Do you really want to hear this stuff?"  
  
"Only what you want to tell me." Riddick watched her as she spoke, she suddenly seemed very much like the scared child he'd once known half a lifetime ago. It was a little touching, and a little strange.  
  
Taking another deep breath, Jack continued. "My grandmother died when I was eight. I think she was killed in an accident, but they never really would tell me what happened." She shrugged. "I guess they figured a kid wouldn't understand. Anyway, I was all ready to go live with these people who had a boy my age, they were nice and I played with him all the time. But before I could go to them my dad shows up to take me away. I don't know if he escaped or what, but he takes me off with him before I could even say goodbye."  
  
The breath she took this time was shaky. "He took me to this planet, I don't even know for sure where it was, but we were in this big city and he was dealing again. He used me for a runner, I used to make drops for him. We would move around from place to place and he managed to keep us under the law's radar. I really don't remember much about him before I was taken away from him and my mother, and I don't remember if he used before, but after we were there for a while he started using. He would get so mean when he was spiking. I can't remember the first time he hit me, but after a while it just kind of became an everyday thing. I guess I got used to it."  
  
She shrugged, shaking off the feeling that she got, the terror she would feel whenever her dad would come in yelling. How she would crawl under her bed and hide in the dark, hoping he'd forget she was there. He never did. "One time, when I was twelve, he beat me so bad I couldn't get out of bed for a week. I didn't go to school anyway, so no one came looking for me." She shuddered as she remembered it. "I was peeing and spitting up blood, I couldn't move, I swear I thought I was going to die." She combed her fingers back through her hair. "When I could walk again, I took all the money I could find and ran. I cut my hair and I jumped onto a freighter that was headed out away from the planet. I didn't even know where it was going and I didn't care."  
  
*Shit. I thought I had a fucked up childhood.* The people at the state-run home he'd spent the first 18 years of his life in hardly ever even touched the kids, let alone beat them. He'd been thrown into their equivalent of solitary confinement more than once, but he could only remember a few times when anyone had hit him, and that was usually because he'd hit them first. And it wasn't like they were people who were supposed to love you anyway, they got paid to take care of the kids, not like your dad. He found himself wishing he could find Mr. Phillips and show him what it felt like to have someone beat the shit out of him and see how he liked it. *No wonder she chose me as someone to look up to. Look what she had as a point of reference.*  
  
She sighed heavily. "I ended up on the HG and the rest you know." She smiled at him, a self depreciating smile. "I guess at first I wanted to be like you. Fight back, take no shit," she said, answering his unasked question. "I really wanted to be tough. Then after all the bad stuff started, I just knew that I'd be safe with you, and after we got off the planet I wanted to go with you because I figured that no one would be able to hurt me if you were there protecting me." She shrugged.  
  
He cocked his head to the side, knowing he hadn't asked the question. "You were so trusting," he said quietly, knowing he never really truly had done anything to earn that trust. That's what had made it that much more precious. But he found that he needed to tell her the truth, all these years she thought he'd gone back to get her and Imam out of that cave where he'd left them, he hadn't told her that it had been Carolyn that had made him go back. Her and the guilt that had started eating at him when he pictured Jack being torn apart and eaten by those things. "Bad judgment on your part."  
  
Dropping her knees so that she was sitting Indian style, she pulled the blanket closer around her. "I don't think it was bad judgment. I'm here today, aren't I? I wouldn't be if you hadn't saved me. Twice."  
  
A small voice told him he'd never earned any of it, he'd never earned the faith she placed in him. *Shut the fuck up, Jimminy,* he thought, *what can it hurt to let the kid go on thinking I'm some kind of hero?* But he found he wanted her to know the truth. He looked her in the eyes, shaking his head. "I don't even know why I fought that alien off. One minute I was heading toward the skiff with the cells and the next I was standing over the dead body with blood all over me." He sighed heavily, rubbing a hand over his scalp. "And as for the skiff, I was going to leave you all there to die. I even had the damn skiff fired up and ready to go. If it hadn't been for Carolyn pushing me to go back, I wouldn't have." He waited for the reaction, the look of betrayal to cross her face, but amazingly enough it never did. She just gave him an enigmatic smile that made him feel things that confused the hell out of him.  
  
"I know," Jack said simply, smiling at Riddick, glad to finally have him tell her.  
  
"You know?" he asked, incredulously, "how the fuck do you know?" Then he realized, "the holy-man told you."  
  
She just shook her head. "No. You did. Or, actually, you told Imam." She smiled at the look on his face. "You really should check to make sure a kid is actually asleep before you start talking about 'big people' stuff." She couldn't help but laugh.  
  
He stared at her, amazed almost to the point of speechlessness. "You knew all along. And you wanted to come with me anyway?" The truth made her faith and trust in him even more poignant, even more precious to him. "You are not the brightest crayon in the box, are you?" he joked.  
  
"You just say the sweetest things," she joked back, laughing as she started to study the chessboard again. "Riddick, Carolyn weighed all of about 113lbs soaking wet, she wasn't armed, she didn't have anything to hold over you." Jack smiled at him, as if she was revealing some long hidden secret. "You came because you wanted to, not because she made you. Carolyn was just an excuse for you to do the right thing. You needed one then."  
  
Riddick growled, not even realizing he'd done it. "This isn't analyze Richard B. Riddick night," he said as he countered her last move, now readying his playing pieces for the kill. "We're supposed to be talking about you. Was Imam good to you?" Riddick already knew the answer to that one, but he wanted to get the conversation back on track, which was on Jack and off him.  
  
"Imam was great, a much better father than the one I'd been born to." She moved her queen back so that she could more easily defend her king. "I had a very safe and very boring life with him." She smiled as she remembered back to her early days with Imam. "After Imam wheedled the information about my past out of me, he decided I'd never have to go back to Dad again. He took us to New Sydney and he got a job working at one of the research and development facilities there. He's really a fantastic engineer, and he took really good care of me. I did my share of the rebellious youth thing, and I was a complete pain in the ass during my early teens. But I found out, once I let myself settle in, that I really liked school and I really liked being with Imam. We had our ups and downs just like any other family, but he was always content to let me be the person 'I was destined to be'," she quirked her fingers into quotation marks as she repeated Imam's words to her, laughing. "I love Imam." She looked at him from under the fringe of her lashes, hiding a small smile behind the curtain of her hair. "So, after about a year I found it in my heart to forgive you for abandoning me to a life of safety, boredom, and homework."  
  
"That's generous of you," he said sarcastically. Moving his rook forward, he smiled at her, a predatory smile. "I hope you'll forgive me for checkmate." 


	12. Chapter 12 Good Night

Chapter 12 - Good Night  
  
Jack looked down at the board. "No way," she said incredulously, having been absolutely sure that she was going to win, or rather that he was going to let her win. "That's impossible, how the hell did you do that?"  
  
Riddick shrugged, taking another pull off his beer and hiding a smug smile. "I'm a sneaky bastard."  
  
"Well, that sucks," she said frowning, studying the moves they'd made, trying to figure out exactly where she'd lost the game. She was absolutely sure from the smug look on his face that he had known from the very beginning he was going to win. Setting the board back up she narrowed her eyes at him. "Play again?" This time she was going to watch him like a hawk.  
  
Riddick glanced down at the watch on his wrist; it was already 2am Station Time. Shaking his head, he downed the remainder of his beer and started putting his boots back on. "It's late. I'd better go." He was starting to feel the weariness pulling on him, and the beer wasn't helping. Plus, he was thinking more 'adult' thoughts about Jack than he would like and he figured it'd be best to leave now before he did something he'd regret.  
  
*NO! He can't just leave!* Jack's main goal was to keep him there, she didn't know if she'd ever see him again if he left now and she couldn't accept that. Somehow in the next four days she was going to try to convince him to take her with him wherever it was he was going. Most people might have seen it as crazy, wanting to leave a well-paying job you liked, friends, and a father who loved you to run off with a man who was an escaped convict and self-professed murderer, but as good as her life had been in the past thirteen years, it had been missing one big piece. Riddick. Most people would say that what she felt for him couldn't possibly be love because she hardly knew him, but she didn't know what else it could be. All she knew was that she had never felt it for anyone else and, now that she'd seen him again, she knew she didn't want to be without it anymore.  
  
"It's not that late. I don't have to work tomorrow and you don't have anything pressing you have to do tomorrow morning, do you? I mean, you've got four more days until the fuel shipment gets here, right?" She fidgeted with the fringe on the edge of the throw. *Ok, jumping into his lap and sticking your tongue down his throat would probably get his attention, but that may or may not be a good idea considering he still sees you as twelve.* "You could sleep in tomorrow." She licked her lips nervously. *On the other hand, fortune favors the brave,* she told herself, sucking her bottom lip into her mouth. *But perhaps a more subtle route would be prudent.* "Or...or you could stay here," she said, almost shyly, not really wanting to look up at him.  
  
*What?!* Riddick stopped in the middle of tying one of his bootlaces, not quite sure he'd heard her correctly. Frowning a bit he finished tying his boot then looked up, trying to see her face through the heavy curtain of her hair. He studied her quietly for a moment, wondering exactly what he was supposed to say to that.  
  
It was a little strange to hear herself, she'd never been overly shy about anything, not even sex, but then again she had never been with anyone she had any real feelings for either. That upped the stakes considerably; she didn't want to get hurt. *Pull yourself together,* she admonished herself, *you certainly aren't doing much to prove you're not that same kid he once knew." Pushing her nervousness down, she straightened her shoulders and looked up at him, finding him looking back at her. The look on his face sent a not unpleasant shiver running down her spine. Anchoring a long lock of her hair behind her ear, she stared back at him into those dark, dark eyes. She wanted him to be able to see her face, her eyes, wanting him to know exactly what she was offering. She was glad her voice was stronger when she spoke this time. "You could stay here with me tonight."  
  
For a long time he didn't say anything, conversational skills were not high on his short list of good points. The evening had not been going as planned, and his idea to get Jack to go quietly back into that safe little part of his psyche was pretty much shot, but as good as the offer sounded to him, he wasn't going to let himself go down that path. There were scarier things down that path than he wanted to deal with. His voice was quiet when he spoke to her. "I was wrong, that is the best offer I've had in a very long time."  
  
Jack felt a moment of elation until she realized there was an inaudible 'but' hanging in the air. *Well, it was stupid to think he'd want you anyway,* she told herself, smiling ruefully. Ok. If he was going to shoot her down he might as well get on with it. "But?"  
  
She was smart, and 'sensed' him better than he would like. What could he say that wouldn't hurt her? The answer was, nothing. No matter what happened from here on, she was going to be hurt one way or another, the best he could hope for was to get out with the least amount of emotional bloodshed. *I never should have come here,* he told himself, wishing at that moment that he'd decided to go to any other sector in the galaxy. "But...I don't think that would be a very good idea under the circumstances." He mentally kicked himself for his choice of words, knowing she was going to ask the inevitable question.  
  
Jack managed not to look away, though she wished at that minute that she could crawl into a hole and never come out. "What circumstances?" She felt a small stir of anger inside her and decided it was better to hold onto than the hurt she was feeling. She crossed her arms over her chest, a defensive posture. "It's not like I'm a virgin, I'm twenty-five years old, not fifteen."  
  
*No, of course you're not,* he thought. "There's a very long list of reasons starting with the fact that I'm eighteen years older than you and ending with the fact that when I leave this station four days from now I don't want to take any regrets with me, yours or mine." Rubbing his hand over his scalp, he sighed heavily, shaking his head. He was not good at stepping around the feelings of women, they were just too damn delicate and Riddick was just not a tactful person. "Look, Jack. You're a good kid." He could tell from the slight wince at the corner of her eyes that he was not doing well. *To hell with it,* he thought, *just tell her the truth, before you stick your foot so far down your throat you can kick your own ass, then get the hell out.* "It's like this. If I sleep with you," not normally a euphemism he used, but fuck just didn't seem like the right thing to say to Jack, "then I'm going to be killing the image of a sweet little twelve year old who, for some ungodly reason, looked up at me like I was a hero. There are days when I really need that image as a reminder that all of humanity isn't a pile of shit. It keeps me from going down some very dark paths."  
  
Feeling some of the anger bleed from her, Jack's defensive stance dropped a bit. Knowing that she had made a difference in his life was important. Though it wasn't exactly what she might have hoped for it was, at least, something. "That's a selfish reason, you know."  
  
"Selfish?" Riddick figured that no matter which way he went it would be a selfish decision. *That is the problem with women,* he thought, *no matter what you do it's never the right thing.* It was so much easier to deal with a woman when you didn't give a shit how she felt about you when you left. He nodded decisively. "Yes, it is." Standing up, he lifted his jacket from the back of the chair and pulled it on, turning toward the door. "I never said I was a saint."  
  
Throwing the blanket off her shoulders, Jack followed Riddick to the door. She couldn't just let him go, not like this. *Say something, Jack!* she commanded herself, but nothing seemed to be coming to her. Not knowing what else to do, she put herself between Riddick and the door.  
  
Riddick almost smiled as she 'blocked' the door. "What're you going to do? Keep me in here against my will?" He couldn't quite keep the teasing tone out of his voice.  
  
Putting her hand on the knob, she fidgeted from one foot to the other. *OK, now what, genius?* "Just promise me something," she said earnestly.  
  
"I don't do promises," he said flatly.  
  
Jack was not going to take no for an answer. Not from him, not now. "Not even for an old friend?" she asked him quietly. She knew it was a low blow playing the old friend card, but she was desperate just at the moment.  
  
He should just pick her up and move her, it wasn't like he couldn't get past her, but he didn't. He'd worry about why later. "Fine. What?"  
  
"Promise me I'll see you again before you leave," she said quietly. She knew if he didn't want to see her, she might as well just say goodbye now.  
  
*Damnit!* She really did read him a lot better than he was comfortable with. After tonight's fiasco he'd had no intention of seeing her again before he left the station. She apparently knew that. He should just tell her what she wanted to hear and then forget about it after he walked out that door, but he knew he wouldn't. *Damnit.* "Ok," he said wearily, "I promise. Can I go now?"  
  
Jack felt her heart start beating again. He'd given her his word and she felt certain he'd keep it. That still gave her time, not much time but it was something to work with. She smiled up at him, deciding to press her luck a little. "Do I at least get a goodnight kiss?"  
  
A goodnight kiss? Was she serious? He didn't have to ask, the look on her face told him she was. He was torn between wanting to show her that he was serious about keeping his distance and wanting to give her exactly what she was asking for. He knew he should go for the nice, chaste kiss on the forehead. It would serve nicely to piss her off and it would get him out of there. Killing two birds with one stone was a good thing. He knew this, but he couldn't help wanting to show her that she was playing with fire and she should back off while she was still able.  
  
*Be careful what you wish for, little girl,* he thought. His eyes never leaving hers, Riddick moved forward with the slow purpose of a jungle cat. Laying a hand to either side of her head, splaying his long fingers out over the cool metal surface of the door, he leaned into her, bringing his face close to hers, his lips a hair's breadth away from hers. He could taste her breath, sweet. Brushing his lips lightly over hers, he saw her eyes flutter closed. The reasoning part of his mind told him he should stop, leave it there, his point was made, but he couldn't. He just wanted to taste her. Running the tip of his tongue along the seam of her lips, he felt a shudder run through her as she sighed, opening her mouth to him as he pressed his lips against hers, his tongue delving into her mouth. Reason left him as she returned his kiss, her small hands sliding under his jacket, fingers bunching the fabric of his shirt as she urged him closer.  
  
Jack's head was spinning as Riddick kissed her. His lips were so soft, the kiss nothing like the hard, passionate kisses she'd always imagined and hoped for. Smiling to herself, she returned the kiss. For once, reality was so much better than fantasy. Her hands found their way to his waist. Needing something to hold onto, she fisted her hands in his shirt and pulled him closer until she was trapped between the hard length of his body and the cool surface of the metal door. The old adage about being trapped between a rock and a hard place suddenly popped into her mind, but she knew with a great deal of conviction that she couldn't imagine any place she'd rather be.  
  
*God, she's sweet,* Riddick thought as he kissed her. So much sweeter than anything he'd tasted in longer than he cared to remember. *Too sweet for me,* he reminded himself. *I was supposed to be teaching her a lesson, what the hell am I doing?* Reluctantly pulling away from her, he looked down at her for a minute, memorizing her face because, promise or not, he wasn't going to see her again. It was too dangerous. He knew that next time, if there were a next time, he wouldn't stop himself. While he was starting to like that idea more and more, he didn't want her to hate him, and he knew that was exactly what would happen.  
  
Her eyes were heavy lidded as she looked up at him through the dark fringe of her lashes, her mouth slightly open as the tip of her tongue ran over her kiss-swollen lips. Brushing his fingers over her hair, testing its softness, Riddick put his hands on her shoulders and moved her gently, deliberately away from the door. He opened it, blinking as he stepped out into the brighter lighted hall. His voice was husky as he turned back to speak to her. "Good night, Jack." Not waiting for an answer, he shut the door firmly and walked away from her.  
  
Still recovering from the kiss, and the way Riddick had so abruptly ended it, Jack stared mutely at the door long after he left. He may have said 'Good night' but she could hear the 'Good-bye' in his voice and she knew he wouldn't be keeping his promise. Hugging her arms around herself, she moved numbly toward the couch, dropping down onto the cushions and wrapping the blanket around her. Closing her eyes, she lay down on her side, cradling her head on her arm. She could feel hot tears running down her face, but she did nothing to stop them or wipe them away. 


	13. Chapter 13 Obsession

Chapter 13 - Obsession  
  
Jack woke to an insistent buzzing. Instinctively shooting her hand out to turn off the alarm, she succeeded only in sending an empty beer bottle clattering to the floor. Still sleep dazed, she awoke slowly, rubbing her hand over her face. Her face felt gritty and her eyelids felt like sandpaper. It took her a moment to remember that she'd cried herself to sleep the night before, but the memories of last night came flooding back in a rush.  
  
Sitting up slowly, she rolled her head from side to side, stretching her arms over her head, trying to work out the kinks in her spine from sleeping all night on the small couch. A quick look at the clock told her she'd been sleeping for ten hours. "Shit." She'd slept hard, a dreamless and restless sleep that left her feeling more tired now than she had been last night. She found herself wishing she were back home so she could have a nice, long soak in a bathtub full of bubbles. Her shower was nice, a lot of people couldn't afford the water-based showers, but it just wasn't the same as a good hot bubble bath.   
  
The buzzing came again and she realized it was someone calling her, that must have been what had wakened her. "Ok! I'm coming," her voice was hoarse, harsh sounding to her own ears. "Chill out!" Pushing herself up from the couch with a groan, she stumbled over to the computer station, toggling on the comm-unit. "Yeah," she said a little more harshly than she had intended.  
  
It was Carson's voice that came back to her through the speaker. "AJ? What the hell's up? I waited for over an hour."  
  
"What?" she asked. Tired, sore, and not in any mood to take any crap, she started to get a little pissed at his tone.  
  
"Racquetball. Remember? You, me, eleven o'clock?" Carson's Irish temper was showing itself. "I waited for you and you never showed."  
  
Sinking wearily into the computer chair, she combed her fingers back through her hair. "I'm sorry, Carson. I completely forgot."  
  
"Yeah, right." Carson said, sarcasm dripping from his words. "I don't suppose your lapse in memory has anything to do with that guy that was leaving your apartment at 2am this morning?"  
  
*Fuck!* She wondered for a moment how he could possibly have known Riddick had been there. "What were you doing, watching my apartment?" she asked him, a mixture of anger and wariness.  
  
"No, I wasn't watching it," anger was fairly humming over the connection. "I was at Alejandro's last night, you know, after you told him you were 'going to bed with a good book'. Well, he called me to watch vids and eat pizza. I was leaving about the same time your 'mystery man' was." There was a humorless laugh on the other end of the line. "That must have been one hell of a book."  
  
She found herself tapping her fingers angrily on the console. "You don't even know what you're talking about, so why don't you just shut up now before you say something you're going to regret." *Good advice,* she thought to herself, *calm down, Jack.*  
  
"Yeah? Well, I know that ever since you ran into that guy yesterday on the concourse you've been acting weird. And then what? You just ask this guy you don't even know back to your apartment?"  
  
Jack could feel her temper taking control of her, never a good thing. "You know what, Carson. It's none of your damn business what I do or who I do it with. If I want to fuck every single man that comes through this station, it's my business." A cruel smile touched her lips. "Are you sure you're not just jealous that it wasn't you keeping me warm last night?" She was immediately sorry she'd said it, but her pride wouldn't let her apologize.  
  
Silence stretched over the line before he spoke again. "Yeah, maybe I was. But that was stupid since I'm not a criminal or a drifter and I'm not interested in fucking you once then disappearing." He was quiet for a while; his voice was low when he spoke again. "You know, if I had been the one in your bed last night, I wouldn't have left you that quickly." With that, the line went dead.  
  
"Shit." Jack cradled her head in her hands. She shouldn't have said that to Carson, shouldn't have let her temper get the better of her, but when he'd jumped to the wrong conclusion it had just angered her further. It was bad enough that Riddick had left her last night, wanting, and never knowing if she'd see him again. Having Carson assume something had happened just made the fact that nothing had that much worse. Pushing herself up out of the chair, she gathered up the remnants of the previous night's visit and deposited them in the kitchen before heading to her bedroom to get cleaned up and dressed.  
  
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Carson severed the connection before AJ could say anything else. Running a hand through his bright hair, he cupped the back of his neck, massaging the tense muscles there. "That was brilliant, you ass." He knew that he never had a chance with her, he'd known that since school, but seeing that guy coming out of her apartment last night had just opened up all those old jealous feelings. He hated that he just couldn't seem to get over her. It was almost as bad as her obsession with that Riddick guy.  
  
She'd never told him about Riddick, so far as he knew she'd never told anyone, but when you are in love with someone you do some fairly strange things. Carson remembered back to one night when they'd still been at the engineering academy. There had been a big party, lots of people, and AJ had gone off with some jock looking guy and it had pissed Carson off. He'd gotten drunk and had ended up in her room of the apartment they both shared with two other students. At first, he just wanted to be in there, just to feel close to her. When you're drunk, though, you do some stupid stuff. If you were drunk and in love, well, all's fair in love and war, right?   
  
He first started going through her stuff, looking through her clothes. Then he'd broken into her diary. What he'd found in there was mostly sappy poetry, sketches of hands, strange eyes, a man's muscular back, nothing that really made any sense. Then he'd found the stories. It didn't take long to realize that the 'stories' were fantasies she'd written down, pretty sexy stuff too, revealing new depths to AJ that he hadn't known lay beneath the smiling, sweet exterior and making him that much more pissed that she'd gone off with the jock. But though the entire thing seemed to be dedicated to one purpose, one focus, one person, there was no name anywhere. It was like she had created him out of thin air and forgotten to name him, or maybe she was afraid to reveal his name. He found he needed to know who it was that she fantasized about. That's when he remembered the box.  
  
Under AJ's bed there lived a lock box, just a bit larger than a large shoebox. The only remarkable thing about it was that it was a security box, and she never made a trip home without taking it with her. Not only was there an electronic combination, but it also required a tiny key-card. She always kept the card on a chain around her neck, like a dog tag, she even showered with it. Given enough time he could probably crack the combination, but he wouldn't get anywhere without that card. The only question was, how to get it?  
  
Carson was a patient person, and he waited. His opportunity didn't arrive for another three months. He'd managed to figure out the combination during that time, but he needed the key-card. Finally the time came. Melissa, another of their roommates, had convinced AJ that she should go out with her and two guys. It was a formal affair and so that meant she'd be carrying the card in her purse. If he timed it just right, he could slip the card out of her purse and get it back before she knew it was gone.   
  
It hadn't been easy, but while she and Melissa were chatting with the guys in the living room, Carson slipped into AJ's bedroom. With hands shaking from excitement, he'd taken the card out and unlocked the box. He'd barely had time to replace the card before she'd returned to the bedroom to retrieve her purse. That night while they were gone, he'd learned a few more interesting things about AJ and her obsession with one Richard B. Riddick.  
  
A frown furrowed his brow. It couldn't be, could it? He shook his head, laughing at the very idea. "Yeah, right, Carson. What are the odds that this guy she's not seen in something like thirteen years has just shown up all of a sudden?" But what if it was him? He'd be damned if he was going to lose her to someone like that.   
  
Half an hour later, he had a very old picture of Riddick. He looked young, early twenties, close-cropped black hair, dark brown (almost black) eyes. The picture was taken shortly after Riddick had been taken into custody, so the man's jaw was set and his eyes glinted with anger and hatred. He looked dangerous. Carson made himself think back to the man on the concourse. He'd been wearing a baseball cap, dark sunglasses, and a goatee, but the build was the same, approximately the same height, and the set of his jaw was the same. It could easily be the same man, but he'd want to make sure before he went any further. He needed to be sure before he made any calls.  
  
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Riddick hadn't slept much the night before, so when the clock chimed 7am he didn't see any reason to keep trying, wasn't like he ever got much sleep anyway. Climbing out of his bunk, he showered, shaved, and dressed for the day. Most everything on the station would be opening for business soon, he could get something to eat then get to work on resupplying the Persephone for the trip to TO4.   
  
He ate breakfast at the same cafe he'd watched Jack from the previous day, consciously keeping an eye out for her. She was a persistent person, and he'd rather avoid any contact with her today if he could. He'd already accepted the fact that his old image of her was completely shattered now; he just couldn't bring himself to think of her the same way anymore. It made him feel like some kind of pervert child molester anytime he'd tried to dredge up that old picture of her in his mind. No, she'd forced an entirely new image into his mind, one he was fighting very hard to forget.  
  
The rest of the morning, and most of the afternoon, was spent in shops and offices arranging for the resupply of the Persephone. Throughout the day as he waited, he found his thoughts drifting back to Jack and he'd have to mentally kick himself. *Damn the girl for being so soft and sexy,* he thought. Didn't she know she wasn't supposed to grow up? He'd just be glad when he left the station. He was starting to think leaving this system altogether might be a good idea, it wasn't like there weren't other places he could go.   
  
Several hours later, and several thousand credits poorer, the Persephone was all supplied and ready to go, just as soon as the damn fuel shipment got there. Not wanting to go back to the ship, just in case Jack had decided that turnabout was fair play and was waiting for him, Riddick found himself back at Carnal Pleasures. Well, it was as good a place as any to spend the remainder of the evening. *Who knows, I might even see what's- her-name again,* he thought, a small smile on his face. If not, any other 'what's-her-name' would do. 


	14. Chapter 14 How To Treat A Lady

Author's Note: I had no idea when I started writing this story that it was going to become so HUGE! I thought it would be a nice, simple romance, but apparently the characters have stuff to say LOL I sincerely hope I can manage to keep the story alive, and interesting until it's conclusion :) Please review, I love hearing from people. And yes, I promise, there really is romance in the story! It's just taking longer than anticipated to get there.  
  
Chapter 14 - How To Treat A Lady  
  
Jack's day had passed slowly even though she'd gotten a rather late start. She had gone first to the Persephone but, of course, Riddick wasn't there; though a quick hack into the Dock Master's computer showed that he'd been very busy that day getting his ship restocked and ready to leave. All that was missing now was the fuel. As soon as that fuel shipment came in, he'd be as good as gone. She saw now that it was going to take more than a little convincing to win him over to the idea of her going with him when he left. What would he do if she just followed him to TO4?  
  
She'd spent the rest of the afternoon and evening in the park, trying to crack his security codes on the Persephone itself so she could repay him for the little breaking and entering incident, but the bitch wasn't giving it up. It wasn't a simple encryption system, he really meant for no one to get through it. *This is some serious shit,* she thought to herself, wondering who he'd had install it. If he'd done it himself, she had even more respect for him.  
  
Typically, if she wanted to hack anything she would go to the park and use her hand held computer. It had a specialized chip in it, an illegal specialized chip, that scrambled its signature. If for some reason she was caught inside a system, the best they could do would be try to home in on the signal, but by then she'd be long gone and it could have been any of a number of people mulling about the park. So far, knock on wood, she hadn't been caught.  
  
By the time simulated night was falling on the park, making it difficult to see, Jack wasn't any closer to cracking the Persephone's codes. They were almost as good as the military safeguards she'd come up against when she'd been trying to find out as much information as she could about Riddick. She'd been able to find out when he'd been born, the hospital he'd been taken to, the name of the group home he'd lived in as a child. But everything cut off at the time he was eighteen, all records after that were encrypted so deeply into the military computer system that she'd have to have a much more powerful computer, and a much more secure system, than she had to come anywhere close to cracking them. After that, all she could find out was what was on the news-net.  
  
Sketchy reports of a small insurrection, an uprising of a handful of soldiers, on Sigma 3 that had led to the deaths of over 300 civilians; men, women, and children dead at their hands. The only mutineer to have been captured alive was Lt. Richard B. Riddick, the leader of the small band. After that, the reports of the trial had been splashed on every news system in the known galaxy, though the actual court transcripts had been deemed classified and no civilian personnel were allowed anywhere near the prisoner or the trial.  
  
After that there was nothing, not even a bleep, nothing as to where he'd been incarcerated or anything until he managed to escape. That was when the Company had issued a one million credit bounty on his head should he be brought to them alive, five hundred thousand if he were dead. It didn't take a genius to know that there was more to the story. It also didn't take much of a leap of logic for Jack to know what a scapegoat looked like. She didn't know what had actually happened, but she knew that Riddick hadn't masterminded the killing of civilians.  
  
After Riddick's escape, he became very popular with the intergalactic news media again, though after several cases of mistaken identity led to some rather nasty consequences there was another large gap of nothing. Jack assumed that the Company had put a gag-ban on the news-net, keeping them from reporting anything to do with Riddick. But that didn't keep his face from being posted on every wanted warning system across the charted sectors, or from being added to the black list system (a computer database that registered mercs and bounty hunters could gain access to, for a fee). And the gag-ban didn't entirely keep him out of the news, any time he would dispatch a merc that had been on his tail, his death count would go up.  
  
According to the records she'd managed to retrieve, he was held responsible for nearly 60 deaths, not including the civilians on Sigma 3. She remembered asking Riddick once, while they were on the frigate, how many people he'd killed and he just looked at her for a minute. At first she thought he wasn't going to answer the question (like so many other questions he'd never answered), but after a moment he did answer after a fashion, though not actually telling her the count. "I never killed anybody who didn't deserve it." It wasn't so much his answer that had stuck with her as the look on his face, like he truly wanted her to believe what he was telling her. She did.  
  
Knowing she wasn't going to get anything else, and not wanting to be in the park alone after 'dark', she packed up her backpack and went home. She could, she supposed, go looking for him at some of the bars, but she wasn't really sure she wanted to find him there, since she was fairly certain he wouldn't be alone. It was going to be a long night.  
  
**************************************************  
  
Riddick made it back to the Persephone about 8 o'clock that morning. He was glad to find her empty, he'd half expected for Jack to be waiting for him. That was an encounter he could do without just now. He hadn't really slept the night before, but he didn't much feel like sleeping. After he showered and shaved, he dressed for the day in a pair of coveralls. Since he was going to be in dry-dock for another couple of days, it would give him a chance to do some repairs on the Persephone. He could probably have paid someone to do it for him, but even though it took him a bit longer to do it, he liked knowing every inch of his ship. He smiled as a quick check on the computer system told him that someone had tried to crack the security codes, but the smile soon faded as he realized that she'd probably try again. He sighed heavily; he'd just have to deal with that if and when it happened, wasn't like he could stop her trying. Taking a few moments, he set the system to alert him when she broke into the system again.  
  
Moving down into the service access space in the bowels of the ship, Riddick strapped a tool belt onto his waist and slid into an access panel below the gravity induction unit. He'd noticed that the artificial gravity had been a little sketchy for a while, but the only way to repair one was to wait until the ship was either planetside or in a larger artificial grav environment like the space station. It had been eight months since he'd been planetside anywhere, and the stations he'd docked at over the past eight months hadn't been large enough to house interior docking bays.  
  
It was dark down there, though that wasn't a problem for Riddick. Leaving his contacts in his bathroom on the upper deck, he was able to work in the dark as easily as someone with a worktorch, probably better. In fact, most of the time he didn't bother running the lights at all. Saved on the generator that way. It was also quiet, very, very quiet. He could probably have turned on some music, but he'd gotten used to the silence. It made it easier to know if there was anything there that shouldn't be. In the middle of ripping apart the grav unit, he heard the warning alarm going off in the computer. Taking a deep breath, he slid out of the access panel and went to wait for his visitor.  
  
******************************************************  
  
Jack let her through the airlock to the docks for the third time in so many days. It was a good thing she didn't have a limited access pass or Customs would have been knocking on her door, asking her why she seemed so interested in the docks lately. Being an engineer did have its advantages, one being unlimited access. And having an innocent face made this kind of illegal endeavor easier too.  
  
No one questioned her as she approached the Persephone, for which she was exceedingly grateful. She'd hate to try to explain what she was doing there. She could tell them she was visiting a friend, but if Riddick wasn't there, or decided to pretend he wasn't there, they'd just expect her to leave, and she'd have a harder time getting in unnoticed next time. But no one even seemed to notice her as she climbed up to the airlock door and punched in the code, holding her breath.  
  
At first she thought she had gotten it wrong, and she felt a moment of panic flow through her. But just as she was about to try the code again, she heard the tell tale hissing of the airlock door being released. She let out a long breath as she stepped into the dark chamber and closed the door behind her. With the exterior door closed, it threw the chamber into complete blackness and Jack felt the panic coming back, but she'd been prepared for this. This was Riddick, after all. He was used to the dark.  
  
Turning her flashlight on a low beam, the tiny beam of light making her feel much better, Jack found the controls for the other door and let herself into the ship. The Persephone was a Zephyr class cargo ship, designed to carry small amounts of cargo within star systems. Though it could be modified with a slipstream drive to travel longer distances like a Starjumper, most people preferred one of the newer models that were already designed for deep space jumps. This particular Zephyr was probably about fifty years old, not exactly an antique but damn close.  
  
Jack could feel her 'engineer instincts' kicking in. Though everything she saw showed signs of age and wear, everything seemed to be in good working order. She wished she had time to get down into the ship and really see how she ticked. She'd also like to get a good look at the computer system. Most Zephyrs were designed for a three to six man crew, she would like to know what kind of modifications Riddick had done to make it a one-man ship.  
  
Finding herself in the cockpit, Jack sat down in the co-pilot's seat and smiled, remembering back to the three days she, Imam, and Riddick had been stuck in the skiff. Riddick had been pretty badly injured, so he'd given her a very basic course in what to watch out for on the many readouts so he could take care of his wounds and get some sleep. He'd told her that she could be his co-pilot. Of course, since then she'd learned a good deal more, but she'd never forgotten what he'd taught her.  
  
Unlike the other parts of the ship, the flight deck looked almost entirely new, or at least the flight and nav equipment did. She noticed that the ship had been modified for jumps, but she had already known it must have. It must have cost some major credits to get this ship up to these kinds of standards. She did notice that, wherever it was possible, he'd kept the original equipment housings. That actually would have cost more, to modify what was there to work with the new. Running her hands lovingly over the console, she smiled, talking to the ship. "Riddick certainly knows how to treat a lady, doesn't he, old girl?"  
  
Riddick had watched her from the moment she'd entered the ship. He'd followed her as she looked around, making her way toward the flight deck. When she'd sat down in the co-pilot's seat, his memories had taken him back to their time on the skiff too. She'd been such a smart kid, picked everything up so quickly, he'd admired her intelligence and her toughness. He watched her as she caressed the console, obviously appreciating the beauty of the old ship. *She must just have an affinity for old stuff,* he thought, laughing to himself. He had to smile as she spoke to the ship like it was a person, how many times had he done that himself? "Do I?" 


	15. Chapter 15 He Doth Protest Too Much

Chapter 15 - He Doth Protest Too Much  
  
The low, gravelly voice startled her, causing Jack to nearly jump out of her seat. "Riddick, I.I didn't know you were here." *Busted,* she thought, feeling the heat climb into her cheeks.  
  
"Really? Lights on." The lights came on at twenty-five percent, but it was bright compared to the darkness before. Riddick stood there, arms crossed over his chest, and looked at her, his eyes gleaming in the soft light. She looked like a kid that had gotten caught sneaking into the kitchen after lights out or something, and he had to suppress a grin at her obvious discomfort. "You wanna tell me what you're doing here, then?" He leaned against the door leading out into the rest of the ship, effectively trapping her there.  
  
*Oh, I am so busted,* she thought, swiveling the seat to face him. The question was, did she try to make up a lie that sounded good or go with the truth? Well, it was usually easier to deal with the consequences of telling the truth. "Ok, so I knew you were here." She squared her shoulders. "I wanted to see you again, and after the other night, well, I was afraid you might forget your promise."  
  
*Well, she's got you there, Riddick.* But he wasn't ready to let her off the hook that easily. He was going to be here on the station for another two days, and he had to make her understand that it just wasn't the best idea for her to be hanging around. For either of them. "I didn't forget it. I told you up front that I don't do promises."  
  
Jack sighed. She had been right about his intentions to leave without another word to her. How could he tell her he cared about her, kiss her like that, and just leave? "You wouldn't even have said goodbye?" she asked quietly, already knowing the answer.  
  
Riddick was starting to feel like he was the one in the wrong here. How had that happened? Wasn't she the one that broke into his ship? He frowned down at her. "Is that what you came here for? A goodbye?"  
  
"No!" She threw her hands up in frustration. "I wanted to know why the hell you kissed me like that, then just walked away?"  
  
*Shit. Why do women always ask the hard questions?* "You wanted a good night kiss, so I gave you one. That's it." He shrugged almost imperceptibly. "So what do you want from me? Everyone wants something, what do you want?"  
  
That deflated Jack considerably. "I just want to be with you. I want to go with you. I know I can help you if you'd just let me, I'm a pretty good engineer and a pretty good hacker." Her voice sounded very small, even to her own ears. She had to let him know how she felt, find out if it made any difference to him. "I love you."  
  
Riddick ran a calloused hand over his head, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. *Damnit!* He just couldn't get a break here. When he opened his eyes again, the look she was giving him kicked him in the stomach. Why couldn't she just be content with the life she had? It was a pretty damn good one from what he'd seen. "Jack, you are still a kid, you don't know what you want out of life yet. You've been out of school what, six months? You don't even know what real life is like yet. You sure as hell don't want to come into my fucked up version of a life. Trust me on this, I've been living it for 43 years now, it ain't a picnic."  
  
Jack pushed herself angrily from the co-pilot's seat and came to stand toe to toe with him, having to look up just a bit to look him in the eye. Anger bled through the myriad of other emotions clouding her mind. He hadn't even acknowledged her admission that she loved him. "Goddamnit, Riddick. I'm 25 years old. I'm old enough to know what I want, and all I've ever wanted was to be with you."  
  
"Then you don't want enough for yourself," he countered, still trying to keep his anger in check. "I want more than that for you and since I'm older I get to choose what I think is best."  
  
The audacity of the man. Who did he think he was? Who did he think she was? She was an adult; she didn't need someone else telling her how to live her life. "That shit might have worked when I was twelve, it doesn't now."  
  
"Ok, how about this." He felt his hold on his temper slipping. "It's my fucking ship and I decide who gets to ride in her. You don't! Case closed."  
  
Jack looked him in the eyes, searching the silver/blue depths for some clue as to what was going on in his mind. "What are you so afraid of? Me? Actually having to open up to another human on a personal level? Feeling something again? What?"  
  
He let a stony expression fall over his face. "That's assuming I ever felt anything in the first place." She had spirit, standing toe to toe with him like that. Looking him in the eye, even if she had to look up to do it. He admired her, and he cared about her and what happened to her. He didn't want her to throw away her life because she thought she loved him. He wasn't worth that. "Jack, I'm not some fantasy lover like one of your books. I'm not a pirate with a heart of gold who's going to come in and sweep you off your feet and take you to some island paradise where we'll settle down, run around naked in the sun, and have fifteen kids. I'm a wanted man. That life doesn't allow for what you're asking for." *Or what you deserve,* he added silently. "Everywhere I turn I have to watch my back, I can't watch yours too."  
  
Had she been thinking of him in those terms? Was that what she wanted? No, she just wanted to be with him so she didn't feel empty anymore. She didn't really care where she had to go, as long as it was with him. But he was so damned stubborn, what was his problem anyway? It wasn't like every person in the galaxy was gunning for him. "Get over yourself, Riddick. It's been what, 18 years since you escaped? No one remembers you. No one knows who you are and no one gives a shit. The only people who care if you are alive or dead are bounty hunters and mercs, and then only the old- timers who want to go out with a bang or the newbies who want to make a name for themselves by catching a legend." She crossed her arms over her chest, unconsciously mirroring his stance. "Richard B. Riddick who escaped 18 years ago and has managed to kill every hunter sent after him. Most normal, everyday people don't even know who you are. I bet the Company doesn't even remember why they put the contract out on you in the first place. I think you might be a little delusional about your own importance in the universe."  
  
He cocked an eyebrow at her, wondering if she realized she was mimicking him. "You have been harboring fantasies about a common criminal for 13 years and I'm delusional? You said so yourself, I'm nothing special, so what does it matter if I don't take you with me?"  
  
Jack didn't have a good answer for that, she was just spouting off the top of her head, she hadn't actually meant any of it, but he'd stung her and she lashed out. How do you gracefully back away from insulting someone like that? "You've never been a common criminal to me."  
  
Grabbing the doorframe over his head to keep from reaching out and shaking some sense into her, he laughed mockingly at her. "No, you've got some fucked up idea that I'm this knight in tarnished armor. I'm not. I'm just a guy trying to live from one day to the next and if I have to kill people to do that I will."  
  
Jack could feel the tears burning, unshed, behind her eyes. She was more than angry now, she was hurt, and that was twice as dangerous. "You are such a fucking coward. I always thought you were so strong, so brave, but you are just another chickenshit has-been who can't do anything but run. You won't even stand and fight for yourself anymore. I could help you, but you won't let me."  
  
He felt the leash on his temper snap, felt the anger washing through him. His muscles tensing, he hit the wall beside Jack's head, probably denting the bulkhead, he knew he could feel the pain already pulsing in his knuckles. His voice dropped deathly low, little more than a growl. "What the hell do you think I've been doing for the past 18 goddamned years of my life, Jack? Fighting for my fucking life. I'm tired of fighting, I just want to be left the hell alone by everyone, including you!" Riddick hated losing his temper, it never turned out well. The last time he'd lost his temper, he'd killed someone and hadn't even known it until he felt the man's blood on his hands.  
  
Jack had never seen him this angry before; he'd never even raised his voice to her before. She was sorry she'd let her own anger carry her away, Imam had always told her it would be her undoing. *I guess he was right.* "Let me help you," she said quietly. "Maybe I can find something in the computers, something you can use against the Company."  
  
"Just get out, Jack." Riddick moved back away from the door, his muscles still singing with the force of his anger. "I only do about one decent thing a decade, and I figure HG set me up for about twenty years of good deeds, so I'm not really due one for another seven years." He didn't want to hurt Jack, not physically, but if he had to hurt her emotionally to get her to come to her senses, he would. "This is a freebie. Get the hell out before you get hurt."  
  
Jack felt a tear trace down her face. Why did he have to be so stubborn? It must show he cared for her at least a little if he was so concerned about her well-being, right? She had to believe that, otherwise her life and her heart were about to fall dramatically apart. Stepping out into the corridor, she didn't turn to leave; instead she stood in front of him. One of them had to give in, and it wasn't going to be her. Despite the tears, there was a serene expression on her face as she looked up at him. "I know you won't hurt me," she said quietly, "even if you don't."  
  
Reaching out slowly, she took his injured hand in hers, the knuckles were red and raw from the impact, and she was pretty sure they'd be bruised later. She could feel the muscles of his arm almost shaking from the tension in them. Running her fingertips lightly over the damaged skin, she felt him shiver, almost imperceptibly, though when she looked at him his face was still a stony mask. She thought he looked almost like a dragon, standing there with his jaw clenched tightly, and breathing heavily through his nose, nostrils flaring.  
  
Her eyes never left his as she brought his large hand to her lips, placing a soft kiss on his middle knuckle. Sliding the tip of her tongue over the marred flesh she could taste the coppery tinge of blood just beneath the surface of the scraped skin. She smiled as his eyes closed, his mouth opening enough for him to let out a ragged breath as he touched the tip of his tongue to the corner of his mouth. When he opened them again, all traces of anger had vanished, replaced by a dark desire. She felt her heart pounding in her chest as he looked down at her.  
  
Riddick watched her with something like detached fascination, trying to keep himself separated from what he was feeling, but it wasn't working. When she kissed the broken skin of his hand, he felt the anger draining from him, replaced by something a lot more dangerous. Jack didn't know what kind of fire she was playing with. Threading his long fingers through the silky skeins of her hair, he cupped the back of her head in one big hand and pulled her closer. Leaning down, he captured her mouth with his in a bruising, heated kiss that had as much to do with control as passion. 


	16. Chapter 16 Just Another Moment

Author's Note: I had always assumed this was kind of NC-17 stuff, but having read some of the other R rated fics, I don't feel this is inappropriate for the R (Restricted - not suitable for anyone under 17) rating. After all, it's no worse than you'd read in a nice, trashy, romance novel :)  
  
OH. Just a heads up, Riddick has chest hair. I know that Vin doesn't (anymore) but the shower pic is just SO nice, I thought it would be nice if someone remembered that he had chest hair, once upon a time.  
  
Chapter 16 - Just Another Moment  
  
Jack returned his kiss with an intensity she didn't know she possessed. She'd always enjoyed sex, and everything that led up to it, but the force of his kiss left her feeling weak in the knees, mind reeling against the onslaught, heart pounding wildly in her chest, breath ragged and harsh. Releasing his hand, she wrapped her arms around his waist, fisting her small hands into the course fabric of the coveralls. She pressed herself against him, molding her soft curves against the hard planes of his body and felt the tug of desire pulling at her as she felt the hardness of his erection pressing against her lower stomach.  
  
Riddick released her mouth to trail his soft lips down her chin, leaning her back slightly as he grazed his teeth over the soft flesh of her exposed throat. He felt her shiver with desire, the small moan that escaped from her lips causing his already straining erection to press painfully against the confines of his pants. His now free hand slid down her back, under the curtain of her hair, to rest comfortably in the small of her back. Working up the hem of her shirt so that he could feel the skin, his fingers began tracing patterns over the skin and he could hear her breathing quicken.  
  
Moving his mouth from her throat to her ear, he traced the shell with the tip of his tongue, smiling as he felt and heard the hitch in her breath as she pressed herself harder against him. Sucking the lobe into his mouth, he scraped his teeth over the sensitive flesh. "Are you sure you know what you're doin', Jack?" he whispered hoarsely.  
  
Sliding her hands down his back, feeling the muscles bunching under the heavy cloth, she cupped his firm buttocks in her hands and pulled him against her, wishing they were rid of the confines of clothes. She turned her mouth to his throat, pressing a warm, wet kiss to the muscled column, sucking lightly and working her teeth against the smooth skin. A smile touched her lips when she heard and felt the groan low in his chest, felt him stirring against her. "I know exactly what I'm doing. I want you, all of you." She meant more than just sex, but if that was all he was offering, she'd take that.for now.  
  
Needing no other encouragement, Riddick picked her up, wrapping her long legs around his waist, and carried her down the corridor and up the small ramp that led to the crew quarters. Even if he couldn't see in the dark, he'd have been able to walk the distance in his sleep, which was a good thing since Jack had twined her arms around his neck and was kissing him recklessly, devouring his mouth with hers. Her urgency pushed him forward until he found the door to his cabin and knocked it open with his hip, backing into the room.  
  
In his mind he knew he shouldn't be doing this, shouldn't want her this badly, but he did. He wanted her, wanted to feel her naked flesh beneath his, wanted to watch her face as she came. And, god help him, he wanted what she was offering; the chance to be loved by someone. But he knew that he couldn't risk that. He knew that he'd have to enjoy what she gave him now, because he'd never have another chance. No matter what she thought, no matter what happened between now and then, when he left Orion Station it would be alone.  
  
The room was dark as they pushed through the door, only the dim illumination from the corridor relieving the utter blackness. Jack knew that he could see her as he sat her on the edge of the bunk, but she couldn't see him. That just wasn't fair. "Lights," she said, her voice husky with desire. Riddick blinked a bit as the lights came on before he adjusted to the change. The lights in his bedroom were slightly dimmer than the ones in the corridor and flight deck, though it may have just been the fact that the only light was a reading lamp beside the bed. Even Riddick needed light to read, she supposed.  
  
Smiling seductively, she maneuvered around until she was kneeling on the bunk, making her approximately the same height as Riddick. Wrapping her hands around the collar of the coveralls, she pulled him into another mind- blowing kiss, her tongue exploring the unique tastes and textures of him, sparring with his tongue as he mined the depths of her mouth. Her fingers found the pressure closures on the front of the utilitarian garment he wore, sliding them open as she ran her fingertips down his torso, enjoying the mixed textures of the smooth skin and the scattering of dark, curling hair covering his chest and stomach.  
  
Riddick's large hands went to the hem of her t-shirt, pushing under the soft fabric until he could feel her skin. His hands nearly spanning her waist, he began lifting the shirt up, trailing his fingers over the exposed flesh until he cupped her breasts in his hands. He swallowed her moan of pleasure as his thumbs raked over the hardened peaks, scraping the calloused pads over the silky material of her bra.  
  
They broke from each other long enough for Jack to push the coveralls off Riddick's wide shoulders. She took a moment to appreciate the play of the soft light on his bronze skin as he pulled his arms, impatiently, from the confines of the material bunched around his elbows. She lifted her arms over her head as he bunched the fabric of her t-shirt in his hands and stripped it off of her, throwing it to the floor.  
  
His hands were gentle as he caressed her throat, tracing her collarbones with his thumbs, following the path of his fingers with his mouth. Cupping the curves of her shoulders, he slipped his fingers under the straps of her bra and moved them slowly, deliberately off her shoulders, running the tip of his tongue over the small indentation that had been left. One hand fisted in her hair, gently pulling her head back, as his other hand unhooked her bra and threw it to the floor, next to her shirt.  
  
Jack gasped as Riddick's warm, soft mouth closed around her nipple. She arched her back as his teeth grazed over the sensitive flesh, wanting him to devour her. Her small hands gripped his shoulders; short nails raking over the skin. "Riddick," she breathed, her voice little more than a whisper as she cupped the back of his smooth head. There were too many clothes in the way. Pulling away from her, Riddick silenced Jack's moan of protestation with a hard, fast kiss before laying her back on the bunk, her knees hanging over the edge.  
  
Propping herself up on her elbows, Jack watched as Riddick quickly shed the remainder of his clothes and boots before setting to work on hers. She watched with hungry eyes as he stood there, bereft of clothing, the soft light playing over the dark planes of his body. With an efficiency of movement, he had removed her boots and socks. She slid her tongue over her dry lips, smiling as he slid his hands up her jean-clad legs and hips, curling his fingers into the waistband. He dipped his head to kiss her stomach, his tongue sliding in the hollow of her belly button as his hands began working at the buttons of her jeans. She felt his fingers graze over the scrap of silk covering her as he unclasped the last button, felt the heat of his kiss as he moved his mouth down to the vee of her now undone jeans.  
  
Arching her back, she lifted her hips off the mattress, giving him the chance to pull her jeans and panties down, throwing them to the pile of clothes in the floor. Now she was completely naked to him, her knees slightly apart, exposing her entirely to him. But she didn't feel cold; she could only feel the heat that traveled through her as he raked his eyes over her nude form, sliding his hands almost reverently over the pale skin of her torso as he stood beside the bunk.  
  
"Beautiful." Riddick hadn't even realized he'd spoken; it had only been a thought in his mind. She was more beautiful than he'd imagined. Her pale skin seemed even more so when he saw the darkness of his own skin against it. Light and dark, that was what they were. Yin and yang. Male and female. Day and night. Opposites in every way. He looked up into her face and saw she was smiling and couldn't help the smile that touched his own lips. "What are you smiling for?" he asked her, playfully.  
  
Pushing herself up, she slid a hand up his torso, cupping the back of his neck and pulling him down into a kiss as her other hand closed around his impressive erection. She smiled against his lips as he groaned, a low, animal-like sound. "I was just thinking how much better reality is than my fantasy."  
  
Combing his fingers through the soft curls at the apex of her thighs, he found her warm and wet. He chuckled when she bit down on his bottom lip, bucking her hips against his hand as he slid a long finger into her, and found the hard, sensitive nub with his thumb. His eyes drifted closed as she stroked the length of him, her small hand surprisingly strong. His voice was little more than a growl when he spoke. "If you do much more of that, we won't have a chance to get to the fun part." She let out a small whimper as he moved his hand, and pushed her back against the pillows, sliding her legs around.  
  
Climbing onto the bunk at her feet, Riddick wrapped a hand around each bent knee, urging them apart. He moved up the bunk as she opened for him, the scent of her arousal filling his senses. Sliding his hands down her smooth thighs, he cupped her hips, lifting them off the mattress, positioning himself at her passion-slicked entrance.  
  
Jack reached out for him; her skin felt cold where he no longer touched her. She ached to have him inside her, a part of her. Digging her fingers into the muscles of his arms, she wrapped her long legs around his waist, silently begging him to fill her. Her breath caught in her throat, her head falling back against the pillows as he entered her in a long, smooth stroke that touched the deepest parts of her.  
  
For a moment, Riddick stilled, her velvet soft warmth surrounding him. *God, she feels good.* Breathing heavily, he dropped his head, his mouth seeking hers. Her hands pulled at him, her nails dug into the muscles of his arms and shoulders. Laying along the length of her, he fisted his hands in her hair and kissed her face, moving his mouth down to her throat, resting in the juncture of her neck and shoulder. The scent of her hair was intoxicating. He moved a hand to her thigh, lifting it, burying himself deeper inside her.  
  
Their breath mingled as they kissed each other. Jack pulled at him until the weight of him crushed her, the short, curling hair on his chest raking over the sensitive peaks of her breasts. She felt an electric tingle at the base of her spine as he kissed her throat, her shoulder. She moaned in pleasure as he moved inside her, pushing her deeper into the mattress. It felt as if her body was a mass of nerve endings; his every touch sending pleasure coursing through her.  
  
Loathe to leave her warmth, and yet wanting to feel more, Riddick moved his hips, pulling himself as far out of her as he could before burying himself in her again. The movement rocked her and her voice, void of coherent words, urged him onward. Her nails clawed at his back as he repeated the movement, harder this time. A rhythm built between them until they were moving together as if they had always been part of one another instead of this being their first time.  
  
Riddick felt her shaking, felt the urgency within her as she moved against him. Setting back on his heels, he gripped her hip with one hand, holding himself inside her. Raking his other hand down her body, he delved into the dark curls, once again finding the sensitive nub at her center. She cried out, bucking her hips against him, begging for release. But he held her steady, murmuring dark seductive words to her, feeling the muscles deep inside her begin to spasm.  
  
Jack had protested when Riddick moved away from her, but her protestations were soon drowned out by her own incoherent sounds of pleasure as he touched her. She felt the tension coiling deep inside her, waiting to be sprung by his expert hands. Reaching over her head, she clawed at the mattress, pulling the sheets loose in the process. Sweat was pouring off her body, her muscles straining as she reached for her release. Then it washed over her, a burst of sensation that brought her shuddering, her heels digging into his hips as she held him inside her.  
  
Feeling her inner muscles spasm around him was nearly Riddick's undoing. Taking a few deep breaths to steady himself, he watched her for a moment. Her long hair was splayed out on the pillows like a wild halo. With her eyes closed, the dark lashes fluttering against her cheeks, she looked like a ravaged angel. Sweat beaded her forehead and upper lip and glistened over her body as her chest heaved, her breath ragged. Her arms were still over her head, fists clenched in the sheets. A wicked smile crossed Riddick's face as he captured her wrists with one large hand.  
  
Jack's eyes flew open, the surprise in her eyes darkening to desire as he moved his free hand over her body, caressing her sweat dampened skin. Her eyes fluttered closed as he moved slowly out of her and her mouth opened with a ragged gasp as he slammed ruthlessly back into her. Her hips moved to meet his as he thrust into her, each thrust harder than the last until he buried himself one last time, exploding deep within her, a hoarse moan forming low in his chest. Spent, Riddick released her hands and lay along the length of her, supporting his weight on his elbows. He kissed her again, this time soft and slow.  
  
Jack returned his kiss, moving her small hands to the sides of his face. She caressed his cheeks, thumbs moving along the line of his jaw. Her fingers traced the shells of his ears, pinching the lobes. She realized that, although he didn't wear an earring, his left ear was pierced. She wondered absently what he'd look like with an earring, and the image of the pirate (that he'd assured her he wasn't) involuntarily asserted itself into her mind and she found herself giggling.  
  
Pulling back from her, Riddick rolled onto his side, pulling her with him. Brushing her hair back, he lay a hand to the side of her face. Her eyes were sparkling and a small smile touched his lips. "What are you laughing about?"  
  
Feeling silly, she didn't want to tell him of her image of him as a pirate. She shrugged, caressing his cheek with her palm. "I'm just happy." Moving her face closer to him, she brushed a light kiss over his lips. "I love you," she whispered. Closing her eyes, she nuzzled her face against his chest.  
  
The smile faded from Riddick's face as he reminded himself that this, no matter how perfect it seemed, was still just an illusion for him. He could never have this, so he'd better not get used to it because in two days he'd be leaving her and she'd hate him. But at least she'd be safe. The hard part of his heart told him that she was a liability now, more so than she ever had been before, but he knew he'd do nothing about it. TO4 was definitely out though; he'd have to start looking for another place now. It was time to start reconstructing the wall she'd managed, with very little effort, to destroy. But with her laying there in his arms, so sweet, so trusting, he couldn't. Not yet.  
  
Snagging the blanket with his foot, he pulled it up over them, cradling her head on his chest and shoulder. Jack was asleep. He combed his fingers through her hair, burying his face in the fragrant locks and allowing himself just another moment of the illusion. 


	17. Chapter 17 Betrayal of Trust

Chapter 17 - Betrayal of Trust  
  
Riddick woke immediately when he heard the comm-unit buzzing from the small desk in his cabin. He'd allowed himself a little downtime, indulged in something he didn't normally allow himself except in the deep darkness of space. It took a moment to extract himself from the bunk without waking Jack, but he wanted to let her sleep. Better that she sleep, that would buy him some time to think before she woke up. Grabbing his boxers out of the pile on the floor, he sat down in the chair and toggled on the switch. He wasn't really worried about who it was, it had to be someone from the Dock Master's office, mercs and hunters didn't usually call ahead. "Persephone, Capt. Torrence here."  
  
"Capt. Torrence," the Dock Master's deep bass voice, deeper even than Riddick's, came over the small speaker. "I have some good news. It seems that the fuel shipment will be arriving late tonight, we should have you underway in the morning."  
  
A mix of emotions that Riddick didn't expect worked through him and he realized that some part of his mind had expected to have another day with Jack before he had to leave. Well, it was probably better that he leave early, easier to avoid a scene with her. He found himself looking back to the bed where she lay, still curled on her side where he'd left her.  
  
"Capt. Torrence?" The Dock Master's voice broke through his thoughts.  
  
He turned away from her sleeping form. "Yeah. Thanks. What do I need to do to get underway?"  
  
"If you want, you can come down to the office now and fill out the necessary paperwork and pre-pay, then as soon as the shipment arrives, you will be one of our first priorities." In other words, he could buy his place in line.  
  
"Ok, sure. I'll be there in a few." Without waiting for the man to say anything else, he toggled off the switch. Moving quietly through the room, he pulled out a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt and quickly dressed, making sure to retrieve his colored contacts from the bathroom. If he was lucky he could get there and back before Jack even knew he was gone, thereby avoiding any awkward questions. He knew he smelled like sex and her, but he didn't care. Most of the time after he left a woman, the first thing he did was shower, but he didn't mind smelling like Jack. Leaving the light burning so she wouldn't awaken in a strange place to total darkness, he closed the door to the cabin behind him.  
  
Jack had awakened as soon as she felt him move. She started to protest but she realized the buzzing she heard was the comm-unit. Curiosity getting the better of her, she lay perfectly still, trying to keep her breathing even and steady as she listened. *He's leaving tomorrow morning? So soon?* A terrible thought worked its way into her mind as she wondered if he would tell her. Since he was obviously trying to make as little noise as possible to keep from waking her, she continued to feign sleep. When he was gone, she sat up on the edge of the bunk, combing a hand through her tangled hair. She needed a plan, something to show him how useful she could be. Something that would make him want to keep her around.  
  
Remembering that he had been wearing coveralls, she wondered what he'd been working on. If she could fix whatever it was before he got back, that would prove that she was useful, right? Sliding off the bed, conscious of the pleasant aches that had settled into her bones, she pulled her underwear out of the pile of clothes laying on the floor and tugged them on along with her t-shirt and the coveralls Riddick had been wearing. She had to roll the sleeves and legs up and it was about four sizes too big for her, but she wasn't trying to enter the Miss Universe contest. Tugging on her boots, she left the cabin and went back to the flight deck to recover her backpack.  
  
*********************************************************  
  
Riddick had been mistaken if he thought he was going to get back to the Persephone anytime soon. It seemed like this was taking longer than the original in-processing did. Glancing down at his watch, he breathed heavily through his nose. He'd been standing in the line for half an hour. How long could he expect Jack to sleep? Lifting up the darkly tinted glasses, he rubbed the bridge of his nose. How much fucking longer was this going to take?  
  
********************************************************  
  
It didn't take long to find what Riddick had been working on. The guts of the grav unit were still strewn across the floor of the repair access crawlspace. Jack smiled, gravs were easy fixes, and luckily Riddick was smart enough to lay the pieces out in the order in which they'd been removed. Made her job much easier. A few adjustments and she was confident that the unit was back up to standard. Now what was she going to do until Riddick got back? A mischievous smile touched her lips, she'd wanted a chance to get down here and really see what was what in the old ship, well, this was her chance. Shining her worktorch around, she began checking the old girl out.  
  
********************************************************  
  
When Carson heard that the fuel shipment was coming in early, he knew this would be his last chance to confirm Riddick's identity. A friend of his was one of the dockhands, so he spent the afternoon on the docks under the pretense of visiting him, he knew that sooner or later the man would have to come out and get his paperwork started, it was just a waiting game now. Finally, he emerged and Carson knew he had him. No hat, no jacket, no glasses until the glare of the dock lights forced him to put them on. There wasn't a question in his mind anymore. "Gotcha." It only took one call to get the ball rolling.  
  
********************************************************  
  
By the time Riddick made it back to the ship, he was fairly pissed. It had taken all his will power not to strangle the life out of the clerk as she calmly, and extremely slowly, processed the paperwork that would get his ship refueled. Now, an hour after he'd left, he let himself back into the Persephone and went to find Jack. He'd had plenty of time to get those walls firmly back in place, and he had every intention of getting her the hell off this ship so he could leave as soon as they gave him clearance.  
  
He opened the door to his cabin to find it empty. Jack's jeans and bra were still laying on the floor, but her panties and t-shirt and his coveralls were gone from the pile. *Why the hell would she go off with my coveralls?* he wondered, but even as he asked the question, he knew. She was an engineer, where else would she go on a new ship but exploring?  
  
Riddick didn't really have to look very hard to find Jack, she was exactly where he'd expected her to be. Plus, she'd turned on every light between the cabin and the RAC. Crouching down on the floor next to the access panel, he watched as the light from a worktorch bobbed around in the near darkness and waited.  
  
Jack had checked every system and found they were pretty well taken care of. Riddick knew his ship and took care of her. That was a good thing. Lots of people left ship's maintenance up to station or planetside repair crews, and they usually did a good job but it wasn't like taking care of your own. Content that everything was in tiptop shape, she started back out of the access crawlspace. Flicking off her worktorch as she neared the access panel, she stood up, her head coming just barely above the edge of the floor and came face to face with Riddick's boots. *Busted again,* she thought with a smile, hoping that this one ended as well as the other had. Looking up at him, her smile faded as she saw the look on his face. He was not a happy camper. "Hi," she managed weakly.  
  
"You find anything interesting?" He really wasn't mad at Jack, but she was the closest one there was to take it out on. Grabbing her under her arms as she started to climb out of the access panel, he lifted her effortlessly onto the decking beside him, kicking the panel grid back into place. "What were you doing down there anyway?"  
  
Jack squared her shoulders and crossed her arms over her chest. "I fixed your grav unit, so you're welcome."  
  
Riddick raised an eyebrow at her, the anger felt good, better than the uncomfortable feelings he'd been having earlier, more familiar. "I could have fixed it myself."  
  
Jack realized where this was going and for once took Imam's advice. She let her anger slip away as quickly as it had surfaced. Instead, she smiled at him, a wide, inviting smile. "Yes, I saw from the other systems that you keep everything running just fine, but I fixed it a lot faster than you could have." Picking up where they'd left off earlier, she stepped closer to him, sliding her hands over his stomach and resting them on his hips, slightly miffed that he didn't offer to lift his hands to touch her but she didn't let her smile falter. "I figured this way you'd see just how invaluable I am and this way we can spend more time together."  
  
He didn't like that she was starting to get to him. He couldn't let her do that. Reminding himself again that he was leaving the station without her in the morning, he kept his face an unreadable mask. "Did you?" His voice was soft, cold.  
  
Her smile did falter this time. He was pushing her away. *Damn him!* Was he just going to pretend that nothing had happened? But then a horrible thought ran through her mind, what if he just saw her as another convenient lay? Uncertain now, she frowned up at him. "Yeah. I did. I thought we were having fun." She wanted to say 'I thought I meant something to you,' but she didn't want the answer to that right at this moment.  
  
Riddick shrugged. "Yeah. We did," past tense, "but I've got some other stuff I need to do right now." Truthfully, he'd like nothing better than to strip off those coveralls and take her right there on the floor of the cargo bay. The image of doing just that had him hardening painfully, but luckily she was looking at his face instead of his pants.  
  
"Got stuff to do before you leave?" It was a test of sorts, to see if he would tell her that he'd be leaving a day early. She silently begged him to tell her.  
  
"Yeah, lots of stuff to do, not much time." Ok, well it wasn't entirely a lie, and he wasn't obligated to check his schedule with her. *Don't give me that look, Jack,* he thought, *I know I'm an asshole.*  
  
He wasn't going to tell her. He really wasn't going to tell her. She felt so disappointed in him that it actually caused her heart to ache so she crossed her arms over her chest, hoping to relieve some of the pain. *One last chance to tell me, Riddick,* she thought. "Well, maybe we can get together tomorrow night after I get off work." Her voice sounded flat.  
  
He was glad he didn't have to actually look at her, the darkly tinted glasses hiding his eyes. "Yeah. Maybe." He hated lying to her, no matter how necessary it might be. He didn't normally see the use of lying in general, he figured if people didn't like the truth fuck 'em.  
  
Jack couldn't believe it, she never would have believed he'd actually lie directly to her face. Sure he was a killer, but he'd never been one to mince words, never seemed to feel the need to lie. But that's exactly what he was doing now, just to get rid of her. She had trusted him with everything and this was what he gave her in return, a betrayal of that trust. Tossing her heavy braid back over her shoulder, she took a step away from him feeling hurt and betrayed and hoping neither was showing on her face. "Ok, then. I'll just go get my stuff and let you get to," she waved her hand to indicate the ship, "whatever." She turned away and promised herself she wouldn't look back. She didn't.  
  
Watching her walk away was one of the hardest things he could remember having to do, a lot harder than it should have been, but he knew it was for the best. "Bye, Jack," he said quietly, knowing she couldn't hear him and knowing it was the last time he'd ever see her. 


	18. Chapter 18 Judas Kiss

Chapter 18 - Judas Kiss  
  
Jack tried to sleep that night, but it just wouldn't come. She ached, wanting to be with Riddick. She was cold without him. But above all else, she hurt. She hurt so much she couldn't even cry. Even now, even after the afternoon they'd spent together, he was going to leave her here like yesterday's trash. How could he do that? At least when he'd left her before he'd had the guts to look her in the eye and give her the reasons why. She sighed heavily, throwing a forearm over her eyes. *Didn't he try to do that?* she asked herself, *and you weren't listening.* How could she have been so stupid, had she really thought that sex with her would be so wonderful that he'd decide he couldn't live without her? She laughed at herself, the sound ringing hollowly in the darkness. That had been exactly what she had thought. Punching her pillow, she tried once again to get comfortable, but sleep continued to elude her.  
  
When the alarm went off the next morning, Jack was already awake, or rather she was still awake. All night she'd been thinking about Riddick and so many other things. The fact still remained that even if he had lied to her, even if he didn't feel the same, she loved him. She couldn't just turn those feelings off like a faucet. Thirteen years was a long time to love someone, it didn't go away over night. She had decided something, though. He was not leaving this station without her unless he could give her a better reason than 'it's for your own good.'  
  
Dressing hurriedly, she made a quick call to her supervisor explaining that she wasn't feeling well and wouldn't be coming in. In the six months she'd been there she'd never once called in or been late, so he didn't give her much hassle. Throwing her jacket on and hitching her backpack over her shoulder, she hurried to the dock, hoping against hope that Riddick hadn't left yet.  
  
Riddick was just finishing the final checks on the ship when he heard the warning bell telling him that someone was entering the airlock. Sitting in the pilot's seat, he closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the cushioned headrest. *Fuck! She certainly is a persistent little shit.* He was still like that when Jack sat down in the co-pilot's seat.  
  
"You feeling ok, Riddick?" Jack asked as she settled herself in. *Don't have a case of guilt over lying, do you?* A part of her hoped he did, though she seriously doubted it. He'd see guilt as a waste of time.  
  
Opening his eyes, he slowly craned his head to look at her, a scowl that might have made someone else cower on his face. "And just where do you think you're going?"  
  
She met his stare with one of her own. *I'm not that easy to back down, you should know that by now.* "I'm going with you."  
  
This was the reason he hadn't wanted to get involved in the first place, he knew it would come down to this and he knew that this had only one possible outcome. He would be leaving the station alone, and she was going to hate him for it. "No, you aren't."  
  
Still meeting his gaze, she cocked her head to the side. "If you can give me a good reason I should stay on the station, something beyond 'it's for your own good' then I'll leave and you'll never have to worry about me bothering you again." She held her breath, feeling some of her resolve falter. What if he just told her he didn't want her?  
  
Riddick had been up all night getting things ready to leave, and avoiding his bed if the truth be known, he was tired. Swiveling the chair to face her, he looked into her eyes and saw all the pain and hope and longing and felt his walls starting to waver again. Gripping her by the shoulders he shook her a bit, hoping to shake some sense into her. "You can't come, I'm not going to let you fuck your life up like that. It's got nothing to do with me, it's got everything to do with you. Here you have a chance, if you stay on this ship you won't. I'm not going to let you throw your life away." He wasn't angry, and he couldn't find it within himself to dredge up any anger. Only a bone deep tiredness spread through him.  
  
Jack's voice was soft when she spoke. "That's not a good enough reason."  
  
"It's the best one I've got," he said simply.  
  
She hated herself for her weakness, hadn't she promised herself she wouldn't beg him again? But she found herself doing just that. This was too important for pride to get in the way. "Please, Riddick. Don't leave me again. I'm not strong enough to live through it twice."  
  
Riddick sighed heavily, shaking his head. *You're the strongest person I know, Jack, and the most stubborn. Time for a change of tactic.* "C'mon." Standing up abruptly, he pulled her up out of the co-pilot's seat pushed her ahead of him down the corridor and out of the ship, stopping just long enough to pick up something and tuck it into the waistband of his jeans in the small of his back under his jacket. He was glad for the darkness so Jack couldn't see the pulse pistol.  
  
"Where are we going?" she asked, holding back a bit as they walked down the gangplank that led to the dock floor. She couldn't quite keep the tremor out of her voice.  
  
"Your apartment." He took her keycard from her and scanned them through the airlock. "If you're going with me, you're going to need to pack." He had no intentions of letting her go. His plan was to get her down to her apartment and knock her out long enough to get the Persephone off the station and on it's way to wherever he was going to go from here. He already knew that TO4 was out because she would just follow him there. She had certainly turned his life upside down. He wished there had been some way to keep Jack from being hurt, but he'd known from the beginning there wasn't.  
  
Jack could hardly believe what she was hearing. He was going to let her go with him. He was really going to let her go with him. For the first time since yesterday afternoon, she felt truly happy. She felt something like elation soar through her as she hurried to keep up with Riddick's long strides.  
  
Neither of them said anything as they made their way to her apartment. Riddick was just being Riddick, and Jack didn't want to press her good luck. She was fairly skipping as they got to her door and she let them inside. "I'll just be a minute," she said, dropping her backpack on the chair beside the door as she always did before running into her bedroom.  
  
Grabbing her arm as she started toward the door, Riddick stopped her. He looked down at her for a moment, his thumb grazing over her bottom lip before kissing her one last time. "I'll be waiting." *This must be how Judas felt,* he thought, as he watched her walk away.  
  
He stood in the living room of her apartment as she threw clothes and whatever into a couple of duffel bags. This was so Jack. She was willing to condense her whole life into two bags and leave everything she knew just to be with him. Riddick truly hoped that some day she would find someone who would be worthy of that kind of love and loyalty, but at the same time he felt a twinge of jealousy that he pushed angrily away. Pulling the pulse pistol out of the waistband of his pants, he set it on the lowest setting. The pulse would only disrupt her bio-electrical field for a millisecond, the result would be loss of consciousness now and a raging headache later. He was willing to put her through that little bit of pain now to save her years of pain later. Leveling the pistol at the doorway, he waited for her to come into the room.  
  
Jack packed as quickly as she could, stuffing her favorite clothes into the bag along with the small amount of jewelry she had and a few mementos. Her hand held computer was in her backpack along with her audio player. She would pick some of her favorite discs and books to take with her too, everything else she would have to leave behind. She didn't regret that, it was just stuff, it didn't really matter, the only thing she regretted was not being able to say good-bye to Imam, but she'd find a way sooner or later. He had been a father to her longer than her own father, and he'd been ten thousand times better at the job. He deserved better, but once she stepped onto Riddick's ship she would be cut off from him, at least for a while. "I'm sorry, Imam," she said aloud to no one. Throwing the strap of the duffel over her shoulder, she went back into the living room.  
  
When Jack saw Riddick aiming the gun at her chest, she couldn't figure out what he was doing for a minute. The picture was there, but what it meant was not registering. She searched his face, hurt and disbelief in her eyes. Would he really kill her to keep her from going with him? Did she mean that little to him? "Riddick?"  
  
Before he had a chance to say or do anything, Jack's apartment door exploded inward, the force of it knocking them both to the floor and shattering the fish tank, spraying them with water, fish, and glass. Riddick lost hold of the gun as he rolled to defensive stance. Jack watched in horrified fascination as an armed man came through the door, followed by a very cocky looking Carson, who went straight for Jack.  
  
The armed mercenary drew a gun and shot Riddick point blank in the chest. Jack heard someone screaming as she watched Riddick fall backward over the coffee table and she realized it was her voice. It took a minute for her to register that Riddick wasn't actually dead, as she saw him shaking off the effects of the concussive blast that was meant to stun him. Carson came to her, pulling her up off the floor and holding her arms to keep her back from the fight. She heard them talking, Carson, the armed man, Riddick, but nothing they said made any sense to her. She couldn't think or speak, she could only watch mutely as Riddick lunged at the man.  
  
The computer in the corner took a blast from the stun rifle, sending it into a thousand smoking pieces that rained down on the two men as they fought. The coffee table cracked and splintered under the weight of them as they fell on it together, locked in a dance of violence, each trying to best the other. Riddick managed to pull his knife from his boot sheath, slicing the merc across the arm, but he was apparently wearing body armor and the thin plexi-steel blade shattered as it came down at a bad angle on the nearly impenetrable plated vest.  
  
"Let GO of me, Carson!" Jack struggled against Carson's hands as she watched the merc pull something out of his pocket and jam it into Riddick's shoulder, so close to his artery that Jack was sure as he slumped forward that the man had killed him. "You son of a bitch!" she shrieked, finally pulling away from Carson, she launched herself at the merc, hands curled into claws as she went for the man's throat. But Carson grabbed her from behind. He had her in weight by at least fifty pounds and in height by a couple of inches. Distraught and unfocused as she was, she was no match for him as he dragged her back down to the floor.  
  
"Shut up!" he hissed in her ear, warning her. "Unless you want to be charged with being an accessory."  
  
Jack fought against Carson, but it was no use. Her energy was spent, Riddick was dead, and it was all her fault. It puzzled her when the merc started putting chains on Riddick until she saw the hypodermic that had been thrown to the floor. She realized then that the merc had only managed to knock him out. Her heart sang to know he wasn't dead only to plummet again when she saw him being chained like an animal. Shock collar, wrist chains, ankle chains, a waist restraint that his hands and feet could be connected to, limiting his range of motion. *The only thing missing is a bit,* she thought as she watched Riddick begin to stir.  
  
Riddick met Jack's eyes as he started to wake. He could feel the pain radiating from his shoulder where the merc had landed the knockout dose and a dull ache pounding in his head. Trying to move his hands and legs, he wasn't really surprised that he couldn't. Anger surged through him, fear, pain, doubt. He took hold of them and held on. That was all he had now. His face hardening into a blank mask, he looked at Jack being held down by Carson and knew what must have happened. Carson had ratted him out. But how had the little shit known who Riddick was? The only answer was Jack.  
  
The nameless merc prodded Riddick with a stun baton, a gun (a real one this time) clutched in his other hand. "Get on your feet."  
  
After a few prods, Riddick did what he was told, standing awkwardly on his shackled feet. Jack's eyes pleaded with him, spoke volumes to him, but he was blind to the agony in her eyes. The muscles in his jaw worked as he looked down at her. "Is this the part where I say 'Et tu, Brute'?"  
  
Her mouth dropped open, working soundlessly before she recovered her voice. *He can't believe that, I'd never hurt him this way, he has to know that.* Her head shook vigorously from side to side. "NO! I didn't do this, you have to believe me." Struggling against Carson, she tried to go after them, but it was no use. She called to Riddick as the merc took him away, pushing him out of the door. "I didn't do this!" 


	19. Chapter 19 Who Can You Trust?

Chapter 19 - Who Can You Trust?  
  
Jack continued trying to struggle away from Carson, her mind whirling, still not quite able to believe what had just happened. "Carson, let me GO! NOW!" Waiting until his head was directly behind hers, she threw her head back as hard as she could, seeing stars as she felt the back of her skull connect with his face. She was dazed for a moment, but she managed to crawl away from him, elbowing him in the stomach for good measure. Crawling to the other side of the room, she turned, breathing heavily, watching as he held his hands to his now bloody nose.  
  
"You bitch!" Carson wiped his nose gingerly on the sleeve of his jacket. "You broke my goddamned nose."  
  
It didn't take long once she was able to think for Jack to figure out what must have happened. Carson had turned Riddick in, but how had he known? How could he know? He was supposed to be her friend, how could he do this? "Why?" was all she could say.  
  
Carson laughed, but it wasn't his usual laugh, the light and playful one, this one sent chills down Jack's spine. "Why? Because he's worth a million fucking credits, that's why. I give him to my buddy Michael, and Mikey in turn splits the money with me." He shrugged, "Mikey gets 75%, but I figure 250,000 credits isn't too bad for ratting out a murderer and leaving the hard stuff to him." He narrowed his eyes at Jack, disgust evident on his face. "How could you let him touch you, knowing what he was?"  
  
The blood pounded loudly in Jack's ears. "How did you know?" she whispered, her voice barely above a hiss.  
  
A wide smile spread across Carson's face. "You should never put down on paper things you don't want people to know, luv."  
  
Her hand automatically flew to her chest even though the key card no longer hung from a chain around her neck. It was safe at home with Imam, along with the box and her diary. But once upon a time she had shared an apartment with Carson and she now realized that he had found what she'd tried so hard to hide. Worse than that, he had defiled her. All these years he'd been her friend, and she had never seen this side of him. She'd never known what a bastard he was. "You asshole! How could you violate me like that? I trusted you!" She felt the humiliation of it, the thought that someone had seen her innermost thoughts and feelings made her feel more exposed than if she had been standing there naked. "Those were personal. You had no right."  
  
"How could you love someone like that?!" He raged. It was as if Carson had completely snapped. He stood up and came toward her, as if he meant to hit her, but stopped mid stride. His face was still contorted with anger and disgust. "How could you love him? How could you let him touch you when you would never even give me the time of day? How could you let all of them fuck you? Have you no pride? I'm worth ten of them, a hundred."  
  
Jack's eyes went wide as she realized that this wasn't the boy who had been her friend or the man who had been her partner, this was someone else entirely. This person was crazy. Someone who scared the shit out of her. She tried to keep her voice calm as she crawled backward, searching for something to push herself up on so that she would be standing, better able to defend herself. "I never realized how deep your feelings for me were, I'm sorry I didn't see that before." *More sorry than you'll ever know you freak! If I'd known, I'd have stayed the hell away from you.*  
  
As easily as the mask had slipped, it was back in place. Jack wasn't certain what scared her more, the fact that he was so obviously unbalanced, or that he could so easily slip back into 'good old Carson'. "No one ever has to know what happened between you and Riddick, AJ. I'll keep your secret," he smiled at her again, this time it was the smile she'd known so well, but it chilled her even more than the other had. Holding a hand out to her, he took a step toward her.  
  
Jack's hand closed around something hard. As her fingers glided over the smooth surface, she recognized the shape. *Riddick's pulse pistol!* She wrapped her hand around the grip and waited. When he took a step closer she was ready to strike. Swinging the pistol up, she leveled it at him. "Don't come any closer."  
  
Carson just sneered at her. "You won't use that thing." As he lunged forward, he found out just how wrong he was.  
  
She didn't have time to think, didn't have time to do anything but react. Her finger tightened on the trigger and she felt the surge of energy as it left the pistol. But Carson's momentum carried him forward and the blast hit him in the shoulder rather than the chest. He staggered back against the wall, his arm hanging loosely by his side, twitching, but there was no blood. Jack was confused for a moment until she realized that the pistol had been set on the lowest setting, basically making it a stun pistol. But in order to stun someone with a pulse pistol you pretty much had to hit them point blank in the chest, which was why most people just used concussive stun rifles or stun batons. Despite her situation, a smile crept over her face. *Riddick wasn't going to kill me.* She suddenly felt foolish for even thinking he was. Carson's voice drew her attention back to the here and now.  
  
"Oh, you are going to pay for that." He started toward her again, holding his injured arm, apparently oblivious to the fact she was still holding the pistol on him, ready to shoot again. But a voice caught their attention.  
  
"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. What the hell happened?" Alejandro stepped through the ruined door and into the destroyed living room. "AJ, you ok?" He looked over at her, concern in his eyes.  
  
"Alejandro!" Jack pushed herself up and ran for him, launching herself into his arms. "Have I ever told you that you have spectacular timing?"  
  
Wrapping his arms around her, he rubbed his hand up and down her back. "No, you usually tell me I have shitty timing. What's going on?" He looked over to Carson whose face was once more a mask of anger and disgust. "Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?"  
  
Carson stepped over the ruined coffee table. "Why don't you ask AJ," he sneered. He bent next to her ear as he passed her, whispering, "this isn't over by a long shot." And then he was gone.  
  
Jack buried her face in Alejandro's shoulder, glad for the feel of his arms. She drew on his strength. "It's a very long, very old, and very complicated story."  
  
Alejandro shrugged, hugging her tighter. "I've got time, chica."  
  
Looking up at him, she searched his face. Alejandro was her friend, she knew that, more importantly she felt it. Carson had been her friend, but she'd known there was always something not quite right between them. She'd always assumed it was that he wanted her sexually and she didn't want him the same way. Apparently that hadn't been the only problem. Jack searched Alej's face, trying to reassure herself that deep inside, he was what he appeared to be. Her friend. "I can trust you, can't I?"  
  
Alejandro looked down at her, a slightly hurt frown on his face. "Yeah, AJ. You know you can." He moved her toward the door and down the hall to his apartment, picking up her backpack as they left. "Let me call maintenance to fix your door, then you can tell me what's happening."  
  
******************************************************  
  
An hour later, Alejandro sat in shocked silence as Jack finished her tale. She'd told him about the crash of the HG and what had happened since then, plus everything about her past and what she knew of Riddick's that she felt was pertinent, then she'd told him about today and what she'd found out about Carson. It felt good to get all of it off her chest, she'd not had anyone to talk to about it besides Imam since the crash, and he mostly just listened. Plus, it felt good to be able to tell Alejandro everything. Jack took a long drink of her beer, and she noticed that Alejandro did the same. "Alej?" She sincerely hoped that Alejandro would understand, he had to, he was the only hope she had. Taking a deep breath, she blew it out. "So, what are you thinking?"  
  
Finishing off his beer, Alejandro sat the empty bottle on the coffee table. "Shit!" he breathed. "So that guy, the one that you punched me because of, that was this Riddick guy?"  
  
"Yes. It was." She waited for a moment. "Alejandro, I love him. I won't try to deny the fact that he is a killer because I know he is, I've seen him do it, but I also know that he only does what he has to to survive." She shook her head. "If we were in his position, wouldn't we?"  
  
Alejandro seemed to snap out of his daze. He searched her face. "And you want to give up everything to run around the galaxy with him as a fugitive?"  
  
"I know it doesn't seem sane or rational, especially since you put it like that." She laughed a bit before smiling sadly at Alejandro. "The heart wants what the heart wants, and my heart wants him."  
  
Alejandro had that sage look in his eyes again, Jack hated it when he did that, it usually meant he was going to be all logical. "And what about you, chica? Does he love you?"  
  
She shook her head sadly. "It doesn't really matter. I love him. I can't let him go back to that place. I couldn't live with that."  
  
"Is he worth it?" he asked quietly.  
  
"He is to me." She shrugged, gesturing expressively with her hands. "He's worth everything to me. Reasonable or not, sane or not, I'd risk my life to save him. Even if I didn't love him, I owe him that much."  
  
Shaking his head, Alejandro laid his hand on hers. "Dios Mio. I knew you had it bad, I didn't know it was this bad." He looked like he was thinking for a minute before he squeezed her hand. "Ok. You can count on me. Do you have some sort of plan?"  
  
Jack took a deep breath and smiled widely at Alejandro. "Not really, and I doubt this Michael guy is planning to keep Riddick here long so we don't have much time to come up with something. We need something fast." 


	20. Chapter 20 Now or Never

Chapter 20 - Now or Never  
  
"Guess you don't feel so big and bad now, huh Riddick?" Gordon sneered, pulling back on his prisoner's arms so that Riddick could feel the bone and cartilage of his arms and shoulders groaning. "All tied up, going back to slam, and knowing that the men who captured you get your ship and your girl. Guess you're having a pretty shit week, huh?" He laughed, pushing the manacled man forward out of the transport tube.  
  
Michael Gordon seemed fairly new to the mercenary/bounty hunting business. In Riddick's estimation he couldn't have been more than 24 or 25 years old, but he had a lot of toys. Stun rifles, batons, trancs, pulse and projectile weapons, as well as a wide assortment of restraints. He certainly seemed to be prepared for just about anything, but that didn't mean he was. What branded him as a newbie, though, was all those toys. Most mercs, real ones, traveled light. They didn't need a lot of toys to get the job done.  
  
The plan, as it stood, was to take the Persephone and transport Riddick to the Jovian Correctional Facility on Ganymede, Jupiter's largest moon. Well, Riddick knew there would be plenty of opportunity between now and the time they reached the Sol System for something to happen. He was a patient man, he could wait. The Persephone was his ship after all, that gave him the home court advantage. There were things about the old girl that no one but Riddick knew.  
  
Riddick stood patiently, quietly, as his captor checked and re-checked his restraints. *Gettin' nervous, dickhead?* The asshole had shackled his hands behind him and added a restraint bar across the middle of his back, chaining his elbows together. His shoulders ached from the strain of sleeping that way, but he wasn't going to let the little shit know that. He also wasn't going to let Gordon know that it felt like there was someone pounding away with ball peen hammers behind his eyeballs. And he definitely wasn't going to let him know that his stomach was churning, protesting the fact that the only thing that had gone into it for the past twenty-four hours was his own blood. But, at least if he was bleeding and in pain it meant he was still alive. He'd survived worse.  
  
As they passed through the Dock Master's office, Riddick caught a glance at his reflection in one of the mirror like windows. Some bruising here and there, but nothing to indicate that Gordon had spent the better part of the evening testing his 'interrogation techniques'. He ran his tongue over the broken skin on the inside of his cheek where his teeth had cut into the soft flesh, tasting the coppery tinge of blood. Gordon certainly looked like he'd enjoyed beating the shit of him while he was shackled, and from the smug expression on the young mercenary's face he could see that he was proud of his handiwork. *Oh, I'm going to have fun with you once I get loose you little fuck.* Riddick usually went for the quick kill, he didn't see any reason to waste time, but in Gordon's case he'd make an exception.  
  
Closing his eyes against the glare of the light, he tried to focus his mind on something other than the pain. Jack's face popped into his mind, unasked for and unwanted. He tried to imagine wrapping his hands around her scrawny little neck and squeezing, but the image didn't give him any satisfaction because he knew he'd never hurt her. He could think of a lot better things he'd like to do to Jack with his hands other than hurt her. Even if she did rat him out to that prick Carson and the Baby De Sade here, though he had begun to have his doubts about that.  
  
Riddick supposed that some part of him had believed her declaration that she had nothing to do with the setup, even as Gordon was leading him away. Truthfully, he knew Jack would never rat him out. She hadn't done it thirteen years ago and he had faith that she didn't do it this time, he didn't have faith in many things, but Jack's loyalty was something he knew he could trust. He'd just been pissed at the time and that had been the easiest explanation. A rueful expression touched his otherwise stony mask as he remembered back to what she'd told him, that no one knew or cared who he was anymore and he had overestimated his importance in the universe. *Looks like you were wrong about that at least, Jack.* That thought didn't bring him any comfort either.  
  
**************************************************  
  
Crouching in the dimly lit access way just outside the docks, Jack watched through a grate as a handful of dockhands, maybe six, milled through the area. Due to the station wide lockdown, there weren't many people out and about, especially on the docks, not until Riddick was safely off the station. Most everyone had been cleared out so that Michael Gordon could escort his prisoner off the station, in Riddick's own ship no less. The man disgusted Jack, she'd done a small bit of research on him as Alejandro had carried out the first part of their plan alone. From what she'd found he was pretty new to the game, but it looked like he was a whole lot worse than Johns. That was pretty damn bad by Jack's estimation considering that Johns had wanted to kill her and cut her up into little pieces to keep the aliens away from the rest of the group. She'd learned about that little plan the same night she'd found out that Riddick had almost left them on the planet. If her faith in Riddick had ever been in question, it had been solidified that night. Even at twelve she could see that as a plan it might have worked. If Riddick had been the man that everyone had said he was, he would have done it without question. What was one more runaway kid in the universe more or less? Instead, Johns had died. That actually made three times that Riddick saved Jack's life.  
  
Gordon had brought in four bounties during his short career, all small time shit, and none of them had been brought in alive. There was more than one they'd had to do a DNA test on to identify the body. Gordon wasn't a subtle man, but fortunately for Riddick he was worth twice as much alive. That worked in his favor. "The creed is greed, kid," Riddick had told her once, "and mercs are just criminals on the right side of the law." From her experience thus far, he was right.  
  
Trying to take everything in - making mental notes to herself so that her plan would go off, hopefully, without a hitch - Jack noticed that there was a security officer standing inside the airlock entrance. That hadn't been entirely unexpected, but she'd hoped he would be stationed outside the entrance. Well, she'd just have to be very careful how she timed everything. She'd shoot the guard if she had to, she had known going into it that blood was going to be spilled, but if she could keep him out of it she'd prefer that. *Good thing I'm not trying to come in that way,* she thought, glad to have decided to drop through the ventilation system in the warehouses and enter the docks from there. Even wearing the uniform of a dockhand, it wasn't going to be easy to get onto the docks without being noticed, but she had to try. It wasn't an entirely foolproof plan, but they'd had less than twenty-four hours, this was the best they could come up with. Gordon was taking Riddick and the Persephone off Orion Station this morning. It was now or never. "Are we set?"  
  
Alejandro moved up next to her, taking the hand-held computer from her and adding a few more codes. Handing it back to her, he nodded. "All set."  
  
Jack looked back at Alejandro, there was a sadness in his dark eyes and fear, more for her than for himself. Offering him a reassuring smile, she hugged him tightly. "Thank you, Alej. I couldn't have done this alone." And it was true, they'd locked out all of her personal codes, her keys didn't work anything anymore. She was lucky they didn't have her in the detention wing. If it hadn't been for Alejandro, she never would have been able to gain access to the systems she needed, and he'd done the preliminary work on the docks. When she found out that Gordon was taking the Persephone, she knew what she had to do. She'd make sure that she and Riddick were the only ones on the Persephone when she took off. That part of it, at least, was almost too easy. The rest of the plan, like how to actually implement it, was slightly harder.   
  
Alejandro returned the hug. "You be careful, ok?" He sighed heavily. "I'm going to worry about you all the time, you know."  
  
Pulling back a bit, she kissed him on the cheek. "Don't worry about me, I'll be just fine. Promise." She sat back on her heels and put her hand- held into her pack. "Do me a favor?"  
  
Smiling slightly, Alejandro scrubbed his hand through his hair. "Another one? The last one could get me five to life," he joked. "You know I will, anything."  
  
Reaching into her backpack, she pulled out a currency chip. It was about the size of a deck of cards but only half as thick. Unlike a bank access card, this wasn't connected to a bank account. It had a self contained, encrypted memory that allowed currency to be downloaded onto it and used at any time just like cash. Basically self-contained hard currency; very popular with merchants, mercenaries, criminals, and other people who traveled all across the known sectors. Unlike a bank access card, it didn't require an account number of any sort. Unlike regular hard currency, it was compact and tamper proof. Plus, it was completely untraceable; you didn't leave a trail. The best of both worlds provided you weren't going somewhere you needed actual cash. There were always places that only took cash. Jack pressed the chip into Alejandro's hand. "Take this and make sure all my stuff gets to my father? Then, once the heat's off, use the rest and get yourself off Orion Station. Oh, and keep in touch with Imam, just in case... well, just in case I can't."  
  
"AJ, you don't have to pay me to help you." Alejandro managed to look slightly offended, pressing the chip back into Jack's hand.   
  
"I'm not paying you for helping me, no amount of money would repay you for that. I just want to know you're going to be ok." She gave him the chip back and held his hand for a moment. "There's 25,000 credits on this chip. It's more than enough to get you wherever you want to go. After today, even if they buy the story that I stole your access key, you're going to be watched. You can start over somewhere away from this sector with this."  
  
"Jesus Christ, AJ." He stared down at the chip in his hand. "Where the hell did you get this kind of money?"  
  
A smile touched her lips and a mischievous light twinkled in her eye as she closed his fingers around the chip. "Don't ask."  
  
He stared at the chip in his hand. *Damn, this is a lot of money.* "Won't you need this?"  
  
"No." She shook her head. "I've got more, I just need to be able to get to it." Looking back through the grate, she could see there was something going on. "Looks like showtime. You'd better get going. Oh, and tell Cassie I'm sorry I didn't say good bye."  
  
Alejandro lay a hand on her cheek. "You take care of yourself, chica."  
  
"You too," she said quietly as she watched him disappear down the access hatch. She hoped against hope that he didn't get caught up into this nightmare any further. It had been wrong of her to ask him to put himself at risk like this, but she'd had no real choice.  
  
Pulling the pulse pistol out of the pack, she settled the pack onto her back. Taking a deep breath, she set the pistol to its highest setting. She wasn't playing games, this was for real. She willed her hand to stop shaking as she slid the pistol into the waistband of her pants and covered it with her jacket. Stuffing her long braid down into the back of the jacket, she pulled a knitted cap over her head. Sincerely hoping she'd look like just another dockhand, she slipped through the ventilation system and dropped down into the corridor that would take her to the door that opened onto the dock. 


	21. Chapter 21 Fight and Flight

Chapter 21 - Fight and Flight  
  
Taking a deep breath, Jack slipped out the door and onto the docks. It seemed like it had been forever since she'd followed Riddick through that same door, not just five days. It took so little time for things to go to hell in a hand basket.  
  
It was easier than she thought to slip in, unnoticed, with the other dockhands. Everyone was too busy watching Gordon lead his prisoner through the door. The security guard had stepped through the airlock to fend off some reporters so he was on the station side. Jack smiled to herself, everything was going perfectly. All she had to do now was cross the twenty- five or so feet between her and the main emergency switch. Keeping watch out of the corner of her eye, she slowly made her way across the floor, trying not to draw any attention. Twenty feet, fifteen, ten, five, she was almost there.  
  
"Hey!" a rough male voice said behind her. "What are you doing there?"  
  
Fear blossomed through her, sending adrenaline coursing through her veins. Without taking time to think, she lunged for the large, red emergency switch, grabbing hold with both hands and pulling down.  
  
"You stupid kid!" The man ran up behind her, pushing her away from the switch and to the floor, but it was too late. The white lights illuminating the docks were suddenly replaced by red and a klaxon echoed through the open space. A disembodied, female voice spoke calmly. "All personnel to saferoom immediately. Repeat, all personnel to saferoom immediately. Dock purge to begin in three minutes." The dock purge emergency switch was a safety measure to be used in the event of a chemical spill or some other dangerous situation that required the docks to be exposed to the vacuum of space. With any luck she and Riddick would be on the Persephone before that happened.  
  
A heavy hand fell on her shoulder and yanked her up off the floor. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" The man pulled her up and dragged her with him over to the override panel. "You're going to have hell to pay, kid. I'll make sure you never work here again." He tried punching in code after code to no avail. The disembodied voice spoke again. "Dock purge eminent in two minutes, all personnel to safe area immediately."  
  
Jack's fear was gone now, replaced by a sort of exhilaration. So far so good. The airlock doors were sealed now with the security officer on the outside and her, Riddick, and Gordon on the inside. With the exception of them and the man standing next to her, everyone else had already started running toward the saferoom. Spurred on by the urgency of the Klaxon, Jack pulled herself away from the man, drawing the pulse pistol out of her waistband. "I'd suggest you get to that saferoom," she said quietly.  
  
Eyes widening in his face, the man glanced over his shoulder and saw his co- workers running toward the saferoom. Holding his hands up, he started backing slowly away. "Whatever you say, lady." He backed away a few feet before turning to run toward the door.  
  
Gordon increased his pace toward the Persephone, frowning as the computerized voice informed them there was one minute forty-five seconds until dock purge. "What the fuck is going on?"  
  
Unable to resist the obvious smartassed reply, Riddick smiled slightly. "Sounds like a dock purge to me."  
  
The merc shoved Riddick forward, causing the larger man to stumble slightly as his leg manacles limited his stride. "Keep your mouth shut, asshole, or I'll find something to keep you quiet."  
  
Riddick stopped in his tracks, a low growl in his throat. *Just you wait you pompous little prick.*  
  
"Move it, Riddick." Gordon pushed the barrel of his gun painfully against Riddick's spine. "Bounty says you gotta be alive to get the mil, doesn't say a damn thing about you being able to walk."  
  
Jack took that moment to step out of the shadows, leveling her pistol at Gordon. The man was so intent on his prisoner that he didn't even hear her. But Riddick did. There was a look of surprise in his eyes as he saw her standing there, but she could only spare him a quick glance, her focus needed to be on Gordon right now. "Let him go and I might let you live." She hoped her voice didn't betray the sudden dread pooling in her stomach. What if Gordon decided to pull the trigger? Riddick would be either dead or paralyzed for life. She prayed her luck would hold, and his greed would hold out.  
  
Gordon was startled for a moment, shifting his attention to the newcomer. For a second he didn't seem sure whether he should point the gun at Jack or Riddick. After a moment, though, he decided Riddick was the bigger risk. A smug smile crossed his face. "You won't shoot me, because I'll shoot Riddick and then where'd you be? He'd be dead. What good would that do you?"  
  
Surprised that her hand didn't waver, she managed to keep the gun steady as she aimed it for his head. "I think Riddick would rather be dead than go back to prison." It was a bluff she hoped the merc wouldn't see through.  
  
*What the hell is she doing?* Riddick thought, tensing slightly to be ready to move quickly if he needed to. *She's going to get us both killed.* He didn't really believe she had it in her to actually shoot the merc, and if you don't intend to shoot you shouldn't point a gun at someone. He silently willed her to back down.  
  
From the corner of her eye she could see Riddick staring intently at her, but she couldn't take her eyes off Gordon for even a second, couldn't drop her guard. "So what is it? You let him go and walk or," she gestured meaningfully with her gun.  
  
Narrowing his eyes at her, Gordon weighed his options. *I can beat her,* he thought, a smile crossing his face. "How about option three?" Swinging the gun out from behind Riddick's back, he pointed it toward Jack.  
  
Without thinking and without hesitation, Jack pulled the trigger. She watched Gordon's smile disappear from his face as the back of his skull exploded in a spatter of red against the gray wall and his body crumpled at Riddick's feet.  
  
Riddick looked down at the fallen body, stunned. He never would have believed that Jack would shoot someone, never would have believed that she could have killed someone without a second thought. It just wasn't in her nature. At least, he'd thought it wasn't. "Holy shit, Jack. Where'd you learn to shoot like that?" But then he looked at her and saw the fear and surprise on her face. He'd seen the look before on young soldiers after they'd shot someone for the first time. The shock, the self-loathing. No, Jack wasn't a killer, or she hadn't been until today. "Jack. Jack! C'mon, Kid, snap out of it."  
  
Jack was numb, she'd just killed a man, pulled the trigger and sprayed his brains all over the wall. *Oh, my God.* She was vaguely aware of Riddick talking to her. Lowering the gun to her side, she tore her eyes away from the gory scene. "What?"  
  
"We don't have time for you to have a nervous breakdown out here," he barked. "There's just a minute left until the dock purge. You need to get the keys to these things out of his vest pocket so we can get the hell out of here before we're blown out into space."  
  
"What?" She asked, panic in her voice. She didn't want to have to touch the body of the man she'd just killed.  
  
Riddick moved so that his face was close to hers, so that all she could see were his eyes. "Listen to me," he said harshly. He didn't have time to coddle her. If she was a big enough girl to shoot a man, then she was a big enough girl to face that fact. "You have to get the keys, Jack. NOW!"  
  
She responded to the urgency in his voice, focusing on her task. *Have to get the keys to get Riddick free, then we leave, then we leave.* She chanted the words like a mantra as she dropped down beside Gordon, trying to avoid the blood, trying to avoid looking at his face. With shaking hands, she pawed through the pockets of his vest until she found the keys. Not bothering to stand up, she turned and began fumbling with the locks on the ankle manacles. One undone, then the other.  
  
"Dock purge in thirty seconds. Twenty-nine. Twenty-eight."  
  
"C'mon, Jack. Forget the rest, we'll get 'em on the ship. We gotta go NOW!" Waiting until he was sure Jack was up and moving, Riddick started running toward the Persephone, Jack close behind.  
  
Suddenly, the Klaxon and the countdown stopped, the lights becoming once more white. The disembodied voice spoke again. "Dock purge terminated. Dock purge terminated."  
  
"Shit!" Jack swore, pushing forward. Someone must have managed to override the purge from the Dock master's office. Turning back, she saw a familiar face staring back at her, cold rage radiating from him as he raised his hand. She realized a split second later that he was holding a gun. Turning back toward the Persephone, she ran as fast as she could. She thought she felt something hit her from behind, and stumbled against the railing.  
  
"Jack! Come on!" Riddick barked. Unable to punch in the code himself, he'd have to wait until Jack got up the gangway.  
  
*Gotta move, gotta move,* she told herself. Pulling herself up on the railing, she stumbled forward before regaining her footing. Her lungs felt like they were on fire from the strain of running and her heart was about to burst from the blood pumping wildly through it, but other than that she just felt numb. Out of breath, she made it to the top of the gangway and punched in the code, closing the airlock door behind them and locking it down.  
  
"Hurry up and get these things off me so we can get the hell out of here." Riddick kept his back to her so she could unlock the restraints. Hands still shaking, Jack managed to unlock the wrist manacles and the restraint bar before she dropped the keys. Riddick ran for the flight deck, ignoring the pain screaming through his arms as the feeling gradually came back. He stretched his arms trying to work out some of the kinks and dropped down into the pilot's seat, strapping himself in. "Jack! Hurry up and get strapped in because I'm kicking this big bitch in the ass as soon as she gets warmed up."  
  
Making her way down the dark corridor to the flight deck, Jack stripped off her backpack and dropped into the co-pilot's seat, pulling the straps tightly over her shoulders. Pulling her pack into her lap, she dug out her hand held computer and flipped it open.  
  
"What're you doin'?" he asked, flipping the last of the switches that would ready them for launch.  
  
"Just a little insurance," she said quietly. She could feel the engines pulsing to life deep in the ship. It had been so long since she'd been on a ship, she missed it, it was a good feeling. The only part she didn't like was takeoff. She braced herself for the pull as they left the station's artificial gravity and the moment of weightlessness before the ship's grav system took over. Once they were away from the station, she typed in a series of codes and the station behind them went completely dark.  
  
Riddick frowned as he maneuvered the ship around to set it up for a starjump. "What did you do? Kill the whole station?" he didn't like the harshness in his voice.  
  
"NO!" *I'm not a mass murderer for Christ's sake,* She sighed heavily, leaning her head back against the seat. "All I did was shut down the exterior systems. Nothing will be able to launch until they repair the damage. It'll be at least a day or two before any ships can leave the station." The adrenaline of the situation was starting to wear off and she was starting to feel very tired, very cold, and she couldn't stop shivering.  
  
*Pretty damn smart, Kid,* he thought, punching the numbers into the computer that would take them to their star jump, though he didn't speak the words aloud. He was still thinking things over. His admiration and respect for Jack grew to new levels. Not only had she planned this in less than a day and executed it beautifully, but she had also faced down a man with a gun. Scared as she was, she came through when it had mattered. And she'd done it for him. He alternately wanted to kiss her to thank her for putting herself on the line for him and shake her really hard for throwing her life away. Just now he was leaning toward the shaking. 


	22. Chapter 22 Patching Things Up

Chapter 22 - Patching Things Up  
  
Orion Station fast becoming a memory behind them, Riddick leaned back in the pilot's seat and closed his eyes. "Shit, Jack," he said, rubbing his hands over his face, feeling weary and worried and like he'd just sentenced Jack to a long, slow death, "do you know what you've done?"  
  
*I killed a man.* Unable to speak the words, Jack just nodded. Her hands were shaking; she couldn't get them to stop so she folded them, sticking them between her knees. That's when she realized that her whole body was shaking. "I couldn't let him take you away." The thought of him being chained like some wild animal, the idea of him never being free again, caused her heart to ache. "He probably would have killed you." *And I would have died,* she added silently.  
  
"I can take care of myself, Jack. I've been doing it for a lotta years now. I didn't need your help." *Thanks anyway.* He sighed, rubbing a hand over his head. He really should be nicer to her, she did just save his ass. Even if he hadn't really needed the help, she didn't know that. But with that one action she'd just set herself up for a lot of bad shit. "You just killed a man in full view of about a thousand fucking video cameras," he wanted her to understand the weight of what she'd done, she'd just killed a man, there was no coming back from that. "You can't go home now, Jack. You understand that? You can never go home again. Is that what you wanted?"  
  
She looked at him, quiet desperation on her face. "The only home I need is with you."  
  
She meant every word of it, and he knew it. That was the hell of it. "Well, I guess I'm stuck with you now." He hadn't meant the words to sound as harsh as they did. He saw her flinch and immediately wished he could take them back, but he couldn't. *Shit!* As he looked at her, he could see she was white as a sheet, she was shaking and sweating. *Damnit.* He definitely didn't need her to go into shock. "You look like shit. C'mon." Unbuckling the safety belts, he stood up and hit the release on Jack's safety harness. Pulling her up out of the co-pilot's seat, he led her out of the cockpit, holding his arm around her just in case her legs gave out before he could get her back to his cabin. She needed to lay down, put her feet up, get warm.  
  
Leaning gratefully into the warmth of his body, Jack let Riddick lead her away. He was angry with her, she knew that, but his arm around her still felt good. She was shaking uncontrollably now, unable to stop the tremors wracking her body. "I'm cold."  
  
"I know. I think you might be going into shock, you need to get warmed up." His hand brushed against her side and she whimpered, falling against him. Pulling his hand away, he looked down at it and realized it was covered with blood. Jack's blood. "Fuck! You've been hit. Why didn't you tell me you'd been shot?" Any thought of being angry with her slipped instantly away. Lifting her up, he carried her the rest of the way to his cabin, depositing her lightly on the wide bunk and going in search of the first aid kit, hoping that the God that had abandoned him so long ago loved Jack as much as he did. The thought stopped him in mid-stride. *Where the fuck did that come from?* Did he really love Jack? He had to laugh at the thought, a hard, mirthless sound. He didn't even remember what love felt like, how the hell was he supposed to know if he loved Jack? It was probably just a reaction to her being shot but he couldn't worry about that right now, he needed to get Jack patched up. Making himself focus on the task at hand, he told himself he'd think about it later.  
  
Looking down as if she was in a daze, Jack pulled the shirt away from her side seeing the blood darkening the fabric. "He shot me, Carson shot me," she said, almost disbelieving her own voice. She had felt something hit her, she remembered now, but there was only a moment of pain before the numbness returned. Everything had become so numb after she had pulled that trigger and saw Michael Gordon's brains splatter out against the pale gray wall. The memory of the sticky red splashed against the institutional gray made her stomach roll. Looking up as Riddick came back into the room, she put a hand to her mouth, not caring that it was covered with her own blood. "I think I'm going to be sick."  
  
Grabbing the trash can, he sat down on the bunk next to her, holding her hair back as she emptied the meager contents of her stomach into the can. "Here," he sat the can to the side and handed her a bottle of water. "Drink some of this then lay down so I can get a look at your side." His voice was harsh, even to his own ears.  
  
Obeying him without a question, Jack took a small drink before handing the bottle back. Riddick sat the bottle aside and laid her back, taking the pillows from the head of the bed and using them to prop up her feet. She was still shivering, so he pulled the bed's single blanket up over her, leaving only her side exposed. That was really the only blanket on the ship so after he got her fixed up, he'd raise the room's ambient temp a bit. Taking scissors out of the kit, he cut away the bloody shirt. Damn, there was a lot of blood. Adrenaline pumped through him. He knew what fear felt like, and this was it.  
  
The thought of Jack dying scared the hell out of him, and that shocked him. "Don't you dare die on me, Jack," he said under his breath. *What if it's something I can't patch up?* he asked himself, but as soon as he thought it he knew the answer. If he had to, he'd take her back to Orion Station and turn himself in before he let her die. He wondered, absently, if he turned himself in if he could work some sort of a deal to keep Jack out of any trouble. *What happened to looking out for number one?* he asked himself acidly, but without even realizing it his priorities had changed.  
  
Jack licked her dry lips, closing her eyes against another wave of nausea she pulled the blanket up under her chin, wishing it was a bit softer. "I don't intend to die, thank you very much."  
  
"You just keep thinking that way," he said quietly as he pulled the material away from her side. There was plenty of sterile gauze and saline solution in the kit, along with just about everything he needed to do everything short of surgery, but he wasn't prepared to go quite that far. It wasn't the first time he'd had to patch someone up, he'd been trained as a medic in the Rangers and God knew he'd had to patch himself up enough, but this was the first time the patient was someone he actually cared about.  
  
Using the gauze and saline to clean the area around the wound, he let out a relieved breath when he saw that it was just a flesh wound. A nasty flesh wound, but at least there was very little chance the bullet had passed through anything vital. There was, however entry and exit wounds that would need to be stitched up. He might be able to do it, but he'd much rather a real doctor had a look at her first. His mind quickly calculated that they were just three days jump from the Areiadne system and the only person in the galaxy that he trusted as much as Jack and Imam. As soon as he got done cleaning her up, he'd set the coordinates for the detour. Without even realizing it, his voice had become softer, more gentle. "Ok, it looks like a good clean wound, but I'm going to have to patch you up a little until I can get you to a doctor. Until I'm sure you're not going into shock I can't give you anything for the pain, you understand? I'm going to numb the area while I finish cleaning and packing the wound, but this is going to hurt like hell once it wears off."  
  
Jack looked up at him, her dark green eyes trusting if a little scared. He might be mad at her, but she knew he would take care of her. She could hear his concern for her in his voice and offered him a shaky smile, halfway wondering if he was being so nice to her because he thought she was going to die. "Don't sugar coat it on my account."  
  
Giving her what he hoped was a reassuring smile, he pulled out a small hypodermic with a pre-measured dose of a broad spectrum anti-biotic. Pulling down the waistband of her pants, he rubbed her hip with an alcohol pad. "This is going to sting, some broad spectrum anti-biotics."  
  
She winced when she felt the needle, gritting her teeth as he depressed the plunger. "I'm not even going to ask why you have that," she joked, immediately wishing she hadn't laughed as pain flared in her side.  
  
He chuckled low in his chest. "You must not feel too bad if you're still being a smart ass. For your information it's standard equipment in a first aid kit." Spraying the wound with an anesthetic mist, he was glad to see her relax a bit. "Better?"  
  
Closing her eyes, she nodded. "Yeah." She wasn't shivering so much and the warmth was starting to come back into her body, but so was the pain.  
  
"Ok, you tell me if I hurt you, and I'll spray it again." He flushed the wound with more of the saline, hoping that there wasn't anything lodged in it that could start an infection. He could probably have gone probing, but that might just hurt her worse. He looked up at her as he cleaned her up and put dressings on the wounds. "You still doing ok?"  
  
She nodded again. "I'm sorry."  
  
"Sorry?" Setting everything aside, he scooted a chair up to the head of the bunk. Taking her hand in his, he used his other hand to smooth hair back from her forehead. She felt clammy, not a good sign. "What do you have to be sorry about?"  
  
"Everything." Tears started rolling down her face. "I'm sorry I killed a man, I'm sorry you were captured, I'm sorry that I'm being such a fucking baby right now." She tried to laugh, but it came out as a cough that made her side feel like someone had set it on fire. Grimacing against the pain, she looked back up at him. "It's my fault Carson knew who you were in the first place, I didn't tell him but he found some things, personal things that I'd thought were hidden and safe." She suddenly felt incredibly foolish to have kept the diary and the box in the first place. "Well, I might as well have been the one that turned you in." Angry with herself for crying, she brushed at her face with her free hand.  
  
He squeezed her hand. "No, you wouldn't ever do anything like that. I know that." *Even if I was an asshole and accused you before.*  
  
"That's not what you said before," there was hurt in her voice.  
  
He brought her hand up to his lips, kissing the knuckles. "I didn't really believe that, Jack. I was just angry. I'm sorry I accused you, it was unfair." He smiled ruefully at her. "But you knew up-front that I was an asshole."  
  
"Yeah, but I love you anyway." She suddenly felt very tired, but her body hurt so much she wasn't sure she could sleep. "Would it be ok if I tried to sleep for a little while?"  
  
He thought about it for a moment, she didn't seem to be going into shock, maybe he should go ahead and give her some pain meds so she could get some rest. It was a three day trip to Areiadne and it'd probably be easier on her if she could sleep. "Sure, Kid." He loaded a hypo with some anesthephine and, swabbing her hip, gave her half an ampoule. It wasn't really enough to take away all the pain, but it would help her sleep without depressing her bodily functions. Giving it intramuscularly rather than intravenously would keep it from hitting her system too quickly too. "There you go. That should take effect soon." Walking over to the cabinet where he stored his clothes, he pulled out a long sleeved, thermal shirt. Moving back to the bed, he pulled back the cover a bit. "Do you think you can sit up if I help you?"  
  
Whatever Riddick had given her must be working because she was starting to feel a bit fuzzy, but at least the pain was down to a dull ache. "Sure." Taking his hand, she sat on the side of the bed, her legs dangling over the edge as he stripped off her jacket and tossed it onto the chair. He carefully pulled her ruined t-shirt up and off her body and threw it onto the floor. A blush crept into her cheeks as she remembered doing something very similar just two days ago, but this time there was nothing sexual in the action, oddly enough that made it all the more embarrassing. Shaking out the shirt he'd retrieved from the cabinet, he pulled it on over her head. She dutifully held her arms up, though the action hurt like hell, and let him dress her like a rag doll. As he was settling the too large shirt onto her small frame she noticed a large patch of drying blood staining the once white sheets. "I'm sorry I bled all over your sheets."  
  
Riddick smiled as he took one of the pillows and put it under her head as he lay her back on the bed. From the look on her face he could tell the anesthephine was starting to work. "That's ok. Believe it or not I do actually have more than one set." Pulling off her boots, he tucked her under the cover before moving to the temp controls and setting the ambient temperature up a couple of degrees. "I'm not going to sweat over a couple of sheets." *I'm just glad you're not going to die on me.*  
  
Jack saw him start to leave the room and panicked, what if she went to sleep and never woke up again? What if Riddick wasn't telling her the whole truth? What if this was the last time she ever got to see him. "NO! Don't leave me!"  
  
"What's the matter?" Riddick frowned at her, concern etched on his face.  
  
"Just don't leave until I fall asleep, ok?" Her brain was getting fuzzy and she didn't know how to put her fear into words. "I just don't want to be alone."  
  
"Ok." The Persephone could autopilot herself through just about anything, Riddick's being on the flight deck was really more just him wanting to be there. He could spare a few minutes until Jack fell asleep. Sitting back in the chair beside the bed, he smiled as she held her hand out to him again and took it without hesitation. "I just hope you don't want a bedtime story or anything because I suck at those," he joked.  
  
*What I'd really like is for you to climb under the cover with me and keep me warm.* He was being so nice to her, she didn't want to push her luck, though, so she'd settle for him holding her hand. "You must like me at least a little bit, Riddick. Otherwise, you wouldn't take such good care of me." She didn't realize she'd spoken the words aloud.  
  
Riddick watched in silence until her breathing told him she'd fallen asleep. He sat there for a while after that, just watching her, reassuring himself that she was going to be ok. It felt strange to care so much about someone. He'd always cared about her, he knew that, but this was something different. Something deeper and scarier that he hadn't expected to feel again, hadn't wanted to. "Yeah, Jack. I like you a little." 


	23. Chapter 23 The Long Silence of Space

Author's Note: I'm sorry it's taken so long to get this chapter, but we've been kind of busy on this end. My sis, Arien (who is also my Beta), got married this past Friday! Not only has my Beta been on hiatus, but apparently my Muse has as well :P. Anyway, my hubby was kind enough to proofread this for me, so I'm going to go on and send it (and hope my Muse doesn't desert me again).  
  
Chapter 23 - The Long Silence of Space  
  
Riddick had gotten used to silence. Space was very quiet. In the time he had owned the Persephone, he had come to know every sound she made, every moan, every creak, every beep of the computer. The ship was his home and one of the few places he felt truly safe. It was his sanctuary away from everything and everyone and he liked it that way. He liked being alone in the quiet dark. Strange that after all this time he could so easily learn to accept the sound of another human in the space that had so long belonged to just him.  
  
Jack's muffled whimper woke him immediately. It had been a little over two days since they had left Orion station, and Jack didn't seem to be getting any better. If anything she was getting worse. Weaker, more dehydrated. Riddick had tried to get her to eat and drink, and she did a little, but not nearly as much as she needed. He didn't have anything like an IV setup on the ship. Being just him, he figured if it came to the point where he needed an IV he was probably fucked anyway, so why bother having it if he wouldn't be able to use it. Right about then, though, he was wishing he wasn't such a damned cynic all the time, Jack could have used that IV.  
  
Stretching to work the kinks out of his neck, back, and shoulders, Riddick rubbed his eyes as he untangled himself from the sleeping bag he'd dug out of an old planetary survival kit that had probably come standard when the ship was built. Good thing the pack had been vacuum-sealed or it would have been dry rotted by now. The floor wasn't so bad to sleep on really, he'd slept in a lot worse places, but he'd gotten used to sleeping in a nice, soft bed and he much preferred that. Unfortunately, when he'd purchased the Persephone he'd torn out the bunks in the crew cabin to make room for some exercise equipment so the only bed on the ship was the one Jack was sleeping in. In truth, the pilot's chair was more comfortable than the floor, but he hadn't been able to sleep there or anywhere else, he'd wanted to be close in case Jack needed something. He could have slept in the bed next to Jack, the bunk was big enough, but he'd been afraid of hurting her so that left the floor.  
  
Pushing himself up off the floor, he padded over to the side of the bed, dropping into the chair. As had been his routine for the last day, he automatically pulled down the neck of the shirt he'd changed Jack into, checking the bioscan strip he'd stuck to the skin over Jack's heart. The bioscan strip monitored her heartbeat, blood pressure, and temperature; yet another miracle of modern technology. Riddick was glad to have it, glad it was a standard in the first aid kit since it wouldn't have been something he would have bought for himself and there wasn't a medbed on the ship. He was glad to see that her heartbeat was good, but her blood pressure was down and, more worrying, her temperature was up. 38.8 (102F). "Shit!"  
  
Jack had spent the majority of the last two days sleeping, but for the last couple of hours she had been drifting in and out of consciousness, not just the normal pattern of sleep and wakefulness. Her temp had been higher than normal for the past day, but the fever had stayed pretty low grade, nothing to really worry about under normal circumstances, but these weren't normal circumstances. Riddick had stripped off her socks and the thermal shirt, replacing it with one of his t-shirts, and removed the blanket hoping that would keep her temperature stable. Then he'd dug out the bioscan strip so he could keep an eye on her vitals.  
  
Moving to the controls, Riddick took the ambient temp down to 20C (68F). He needed to get her temp down, but he didn't want her to crash, with her already low blood pressure, a sudden decrease in temperature could cause her more harm than the fever. Best to try to bring her down slowly. Crossing back to the bed, he threw aside the sheet and tugged off the stretchy pants she'd been wearing. If she had been awake, he would have tried to get her to drink some cool water, but she hadn't wakened since her temperature had started rising. That worried him more than the fever. "C'mon, Kid. I know you're tougher than this."  
  
Checking his watch Riddick saw it had been more than four hours since he'd given Jack a dose of anesthephine. He loaded the hypo and swabbed her thigh with alcohol before giving her the shot, a whole ampoule this time, hoping the sedative would help bring her temp down. He followed the sedative with another shot of the anti-biotic, hoping that the drugs would help to lower her temperature.  
  
Half an hour later her temp didn't show any signs of dropping. Grabbing the small basin from the med kit, Riddick filled it with cool, but not cold, water and grabbed a washcloth from the bathroom. Sitting on the bed next to her, he began to run the cool, damp cloth over her too warm skin. At first, she shivered, instinctively trying to pull away from him even in her unconscious state, but as the water began to cool her skin, she settled again. Her breathing became more even, her skin no longer seemed hot to the touch, and when Riddick checked the bioscan strip, it told him her temperature had dropped to 37.2C (99F). He knew that was probably about the best he could hope for. Now if she would just wake up he might even start to believe she was going to make it.  
  
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Riddick had to get out of the room, do something to keep his mind off Jack lying there, not knowing whether or not she would make it to the Areiadne sector alive. He tried to work out on the equipment, but instead of relaxing him, it only served to focus his mind on exactly what he was trying to forget. What he needed was something to keep his mind occupied. Reading didn't work, he'd read every book in his library at least once so they just weren't holding his interest and they were making his body restless. The only thing he could think of was to do something that would require both mental and physical concentration, working on the Persephone.  
  
There was a reason the Persephone was such a clean and well-maintained ship. When you didn't have anyone to talk to for weeks on end, even if you enjoyed the silence of space, sometimes you just needed to do something that could take your mind off everything else. He'd found that working on maintaining the Persephone helped him do just that. It was a good plan but he didn't want to go down into the maintenance area because he was afraid he wouldn't be able to hear her if she needed him. After thinking about it for a moment, he toggled on the shipwide intercom system and want toward the flight deck, the comm unit hadn't been checked out in a while.  
  
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~~Jack was running. There was no sound at all but the blood rushing in her ears and her labored breathing. She was so scared that she could hardly think as she ran through the heavy blackness. Pain shot through her like knives dancing along all her nerve endings, but still she ran. She didn't know. She didn't know where she was supposed to be running to, or who she was running from, but she knew she couldn't stop. Even when she fell from exhaustion, she dragged herself up off the ground and kept going. She was so scared, and then something reached out to grab her, she could feel its claws tearing into her side. She screamed in fear and pain, but she fought and managed to get away from it, running even faster. Every cell in her body was screaming for her to stop, but the fear pushed her forward until at last she heard a sound, a voice in the darkness, calling to her. "Jack." It said only one word, but she ran toward the voice reaching out blindly, groping for it. The voice represented safety, love, home.~~  
  
The room was dark save for the dull light coming through the slightly open door. There was a blessedly cool hand on her face and she nuzzled against it, wishing it would cool her hot and aching body. Pain shot through her side as she tried to move. She didn't know where she was for a moment, or why she hurt so much, but then it came back to her in a rush of memory that took her breath away. "Riddick?"  
  
"Who else would it be?" What had been meant as a joke came out flat. She had scared the hell out of him, screaming out in her sleep like that, and it was hard to be really on top of your game when you felt like you were going to choke on your heart because it had jumped up into your throat. He'd opened the shipwide intercom so he could hear her if she needed anything, but he hadn't expected the blood-curdling scream. He'd very nearly accidentally disabled the comm unit he'd been working on. Throwing down the tools, he had run into the room, half afraid of what he might find when he got there. What he found was Jack in the throes of a nightmare, her skin burning like the surface of a sun with fever. He checked the bioscan strip. 40C (104F) *Damnit!* He didn't want to think about all the reasons she could be spiking a fever that high, none of them were good, all he knew was that he needed to bring it down and he didn't have time for subtle.  
  
Careful of her injured side, Riddick sat Jack up and scooped her into his arms. She felt light, as if she had almost no substance. "C'mon, Jack. Hold on for just a little while longer."  
  
Jack wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her cheek against his, he felt so cool. "Where are we going?"  
  
He hadn't expected her to say anything. "I'm taking you into the shower, need to get your temp down so the water's going to be a little cold." Carrying her into the bathroom, he stepped into the shower stall, glad it was large enough for both of them, and sealed the door behind him. Shifting her weight, he ran his hands over the controls and turned the water on as cool as he dared. Jack shivered violently as the cool spray hit her, but Riddick held her tightly until the shivering passed.  
  
The spurt of cold water woke Jack up a bit. Teeth chattering, she held more tightly to Riddick. "This wasn't exactly what I pictured for our first shower together," she managed to say between shivers.  
  
Riddick laughed, she always had a wisecrack remark for everything, that was one of the things he liked about her. "Yeah, well, me neither." He rubbed a hand over her back.  
  
God, she felt like shit. She ached and hurt over every inch of her body, and the cold water wasn't helping that at all. She couldn't even enjoy Riddick holding her. Another shudder wracked through her body. "How long until we get to Areiadne?" He'd told her it'd take three days but she didn't remember how long ago that was, things were just so fuzzy.  
  
"Just about twelve more hours." *You just need to hold on a little longer.* He just hoped she could make it that much longer. If she had another temp spike, she might go into shock and there wasn't anything else he could do for her here on the ship.  
  
Maybe it was something in his voice, or maybe it was just her own sense of mortality, but she had to ask. "Am I going to die?"  
  
"Not if I can help it." She weighed nearly nothing and he could have held her like that indefinitely, but he wanted to be able to look at her face. Sliding down the wall of the shower, his pants sloshed wetly against the floor as he sat down. He settled Jack on his lap so he could look at her face. Brushing the loose, wet strands of her hair back, he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her forehead, glad she was feeling cooler. "I don't think you're going to die, Jack. We just need to keep your temperature down."  
  
Jack nodded. It might not have been the resounding NO she would have liked, but she knew he was telling her the truth. On the chance she didn't make it, though, there was something she needed to tell him. "I know you said no, but there's something I need, something from home. Whether I make it or not you have to promise me you'll go to Imam's."  
  
"Jack, I told you before that it's dangerous for you to go home." He didn't even acknowledge the idea of her dying, that was an unacceptable option. They'd already had this discussion and his answer had been no then, he wasn't changing it now. Pulling down the neck of her shirt, he checked her temperature. Thankfully, it was down.  
  
"I mean it, Riddick. It's important. REALLY important." Jack had to make him understand, but she was having a hard time thinking, she lay her head back on his shoulder. "There's a box in my room, under my bed. The key is hidden inside a stuffed bear, the purple one. We have to get that box. It's very important, promise me, please."  
  
It occurred to him to remind her that he didn't do promises, but he could hear the urgency in her voice, feel the tension in her shoulders. He had told himself he wouldn't make any more promises to Jack that he didn't intend to keep, so he knew if he made the promise he'd have to keep it. At this point, though, he couldn't deny her the request. "Ok, Jack. I promise." 


	24. Chapter 24 A Friend In Need

Chapter 24 - A Friend In Need  
  
They made it to the system in exactly three days. Jack's fever hadn't spiked again, but she was starting to look much paler than she should, and she was so weak. Riddick was anxious to get her down to D2 and let Doc have a look at her. Unfortunately, the landing site was still on the daylight side of the planet. He could set them up in an orbit around the planet, but they couldn't land until the site was on the dark side. The daylight on D2 was deadly to mammalian life forms due to a type of solar flare that mixed with the atmosphere to create radiation that was lethal during the day but dissipated completely at night. Most of the inhabitants jokingly called it 'killer sunburn', but it was more than that, it was a slow and painful death.  
  
The Areiadne System consisted of four planets. One dead one that no longer had an atmosphere of any sort, two gas giants that were roughly the size of Jupiter and were in orbit around each other as well as the red star sun, and one that seemed inhabitable. Oxygen atmosphere, grav .72 earth norm, plenty of plant life, no large predators, it seemed like a pretty nice place. In fact, it was the former home of the Daedalus Colony, a farming colony that had been one of the first in this part of the galaxy. It had done pretty well until the star began to emit solar flares that irradiated the surface of the planet, killing all mammalian life forms but leaving equipment, buildings, plant life, and cold blooded animals unharmed. Even people inside buildings were affected, though their radiation symptoms took longer to manifest before they died. As the planet had no significant minable resources, it had been deemed uninhabitable and worthless and the humans that had first invaded the Areiadne System abandoned it without looking back.  
  
Several years later, the planet was discovered by space pirates. The planetary markers told them of the surface dangers, but they also found the planet had a rather impressive labyrinthine cave system. The caves afforded them safety from the solar radiation during the day and they could come and go as they pleased at night. Taking a page from the pirates on old earth, they began setting up a hideout of sorts on the otherwise abandoned planet, claiming the planet for their own.  
  
More than four decades later, a type of 'underground' society (in all senses of the word) lived in secret on what the inhabitants began to call Dionysus 2, in homage to the Greek god of food, drink and merriment. There was no law there beyond policing themselves. Anyone who was running from society, wanted to disappear, or just didn't fit anywhere could make a place for themselves on D2. It became a home for all the throwaways of society and they developed their own society of sorts. Mercs and hunters were not welcome there, too many of the people living there had prices on their heads. It was the perfect place to get lost for a while. Perfect for everyone but Riddick. Even among the outcasts he was an outcast. There were too many people looking for him and that made the people who lived there nervous. But he knew Doc would let him stay a little while at least, and he knew he'd help Jack.  
  
Toggling on the comm-unit, Riddick punched in the code and waited to hear the familiar, gravelly voice. He heard the click that meant he had connection, but no answer came through. "Doc?"  
  
"Who is this?" The voice was impatient.  
  
Riddick had to smile, that was just Doc. He could picture the man standing there, cigarette in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, scowling down at the speaker and wondering who the hell was calling him. Nicotine and caffeine the only drugs he still allowed himself. "Just an old friend that needs a little help."  
  
The silence was deafening for a moment, and Riddick was half afraid that Doc would turn them away, but after a moment he heard the man laughing. "Rick you old son-of-a-bitch. How the hell are you doin', boy?" Doc's Texas accent was thicker than it had been before and Riddick was glad to hear the welcome in the man's voice.  
  
"I'm doing ok, old man. I got a friend that needs some help though. Can you meet us at the set down site with a vehicle?" He checked his systems and the position of the planet. "It looks like we can set down in about four and a half hours."  
  
"I'll be there with bells on," he drawled. "Do I need to bring an emergency kit?" the teasing tone of his voice had vanished, replaced by concern. Even if he didn't have a license to practice anymore, he was still and forever would be a doctor.  
  
"No," Riddick thought of Jack, lying pale against the white sheets of his bunk. "We just need to get her back to your place, she needs a little patching up."  
  
"Her?" the amused tone was back in Doc's voice.  
  
"Don't start, old man." He wasn't in the mood just now to discuss his relationship with Jack and he knew that's where Doc would lead next. "We'll be there in 4.5. Persephone out." Toggling off the switch, he double-checked the autopilot and their orbit then left the flight deck to check on Jack one more time.  
  
Riddick had known Doc since his first year in prison. Once a well respected physician and surgeon on old earth, Doc had developed a rather nasty habit of relying on booze and drugs to get him through his days. One day he'd been high on one of a thousand drugs at his disposal when he'd done emergency surgery on a young boy. The boy had made it through surgery with flying colors, but Doc hadn't been coherent enough to read all the details. He didn't notice the drug allergies. Just one shot was all it had taken, just one slip up and a small life slipped away. When it had been discovered that Doc had been high at the time, the boy's family had pressed charges. He'd ended up in the minimum-security wing of the same prison that would soon house the infamous Richard B. Riddick.  
  
After a time, Doc had picked up duties in the med wing. He helped patch the cons up after they'd been in a fight or after they'd been beaten by guards. *No need to have them die of their wounds,* he'd thought sourly as he stitched them back together, *not when they could be healed up to be beaten down again.* That's where he'd met Riddick for the first time.  
  
The boy had come into the med wing, unconscious, carried by two guards who promptly chained him spread eagle to the bed, forcing a bit into his bloody mouth. He was beaten so badly that his eyes were already swelling shut, but Doc could tell from the ravaged look of his hands and the blood on his clothes that didn't seem to be his, that he'd given as good as he'd taken. He stopped one of the guards as they turned to leave, wondering if he was going to be getting another patient. "So, what happened to the other guy?"  
  
The guard had sneered, "you mean guys. We threw the three that finished beating the shit out of him in the hole, but you don't have to worry about the other two, they'll be going to the morgue." He held up a bloody bit of pipe that had been ground into a sharp point. "He got one of them with this, made a bloody awful mess doing it too," the guard's face held a look of disgust, "the other one he tore his throat out with his teeth."  
  
"Christ on a cracker." Well, that explained the bit. Doc whistled low under his breath. His first instinct was ask if the man was some kind of psycho, but then he realized there had been at least five on one, probably more. He was probably just doing what he had to to survive. "What the hell were they doing to him?"  
  
The second guard shrugged. "He's a new one, they were probably testing to see if he'd be bitch or butch." He laughed, elbowing the first guard in the side. "I guess they won't be trying to find out what kind of head he gives, huh?"  
  
*What fucking assholes.* He watched the guards as they started to leave, catching them before they got out the door. "Does this guy have a name?"  
  
"Yeah. Riddick, Richard B."  
  
Doc looked down at his new patient wondering what Riddick, Richard B. had done to deserve getting thrown into the max end of a hellhole like this one. He hated seeing someone chained down like that, but until he knew a little more about the boy he'd leave him as is. Pulling a cart over next to the bed, Doc put on a pair of gloves and poured some saline solution into a small basin. "Ok, kid," he said to his unconscious patient, "Let's try to get you cleaned up."  
  
After a rough start on Riddick's awakening, Doc had managed to convince him that he was only there to help him. He'd taken the bit out of Riddick's mouth and had tried to get the warden to let him take off the chains, but that had been a no-go. Still, the man had tried. He was probably the closest thing to a friend Riddick had in slam. It had been Doc who had shined Riddick's eyes. And when Riddick escaped, he'd taken Doc with him.  
  
They had gone their separate ways after Riddick dumped the transport, but Riddick had stumbled across D2 when he'd had to make his escape from Caspari eight years earlier and found that Doc had made a place for himself with the community there. The others had made it known that he was too dangerous to their secrecy to be allowed to stay for long, but Doc had told him if he ever needed a place he knew where to come. Well, he needed it now.  
  
Jack was sleeping fitfully when Riddick entered the cabin. She'd been in and out of sleep most of the trip. Riddick figured it probably wasn't a bad thing for her to rest, she needed it. While she was awake, he'd tried to get her to eat and drink, but she hadn't eaten much. The combination of a lack of food and her loss of blood, along with the infection that had apparently set in had made her very weak and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. Riddick hated this, hated feeling helpless and useless. He sat down in the chair he kept by the bed and took her hand. She was cold again. "Just a few more hours, Jack. Hold on."  
  
Exactly four and a half hours later, Riddick landed the Persephone next to what had once been the colony. It was now little more than a scattering of broken down buildings and gardens grown out of control. As promised, Doc was waiting in a jeep-like vehicle as Riddick carried Jack down the gangplank.  
  
Throwing his still smoldering cigarette away, he met Riddick more or less halfway. "So what have you brought me?" With a gentle hand, he brushed the hair back from Jack's face. "God, she's just a baby." Being nearly seventy himself, everyone seemed like a kid to Doc. "What happened to her?"  
  
*Thanks, Doc. Make me feel even more like a fucking pedophile.* "She was shot. I cleaned it up and packed it best as I could, but she needs your help. There's probably an infection, she's been spiking a pretty high temp."  
  
Doc was still studying her pale, pixie face. "How long ago was she shot?"  
  
Riddick frowned. "Three days."  
  
Turning on his heel, Doc headed back toward the jeep. "Well, c'mon, boy. Time's a wastin'." Carefully loading Jack into the back seat of the jeep, Riddick sat beside her, cradling her gently. Doc took the road back to the underground entrance as easily as he could, trying not to jostle his patient too much. Looking at his passengers in the rear view mirror, Doc saw how carefully Riddick held the girl. "So, who is she, Rick? A leftover from some one-night stand? Wild oat all grown up?"  
  
Riddick winced inwardly. He already knew that Jack was young enough to be his daughter, he didn't need Doc continuing to bring up the fact. "Not exactly," he growled.  
  
*Still as chatty as ever, I see.* "Nah, I can see she's too pretty to be any kid of yours." He was glad that the comment got at least a snort from his far too quiet friend. "Ok, she's not your kid. Girlfriend? Hostage? Stowaway?" He met Riddick's eyes in the mirror. "You gonna give me some kind of heads up as to who she might be?"  
  
Riddick stared back at him, seeing the tired lines around his own eyes in the mirror. "She's Jack."  
  
*Jack? The Jack?* "Oh." Doc was quiet the remainder of the trip. 


	25. Chapter 25 A Bit Of Bad News

Author' Note: Thanks to EVERYONE for all the reviews, I really appreciate them. They help me keep motivated to write :) Hope you enjoy this chapter, and I'll have the next one soon.  
  
Chapter 25 - A Bit Of Bad News  
  
Doc drove the jeep through a large opening in the side of a mountain, taking the terrain as easily as he could to keep from jostling his newest patient. The cave was more like a tunnel, smooth stone walls forming an arch over the road as it descended at a steady decline for a while before leveling out several hundred meters down. The jeep's headlamps gave the only illumination in the narrow passage but as they drove through another, wider, arching opening, the dark tunnel gave way to a lighted 'street' and a large open space that was amazing to behold.  
  
The cave system under the surface of the planet was more than just a winding maze of dark, dank tunnels, it was truly an underground city. Complete with a "safe sunlight" lighting system, not unlike the ones used on space stations, though obviously of a much older vintage. The inhabitants had made the underground a habitat as viable as any on an alien world could hope for. The cavern they drove through, one of at least a hundred that Riddick knew of, was probably fifty feet high and at least two hundred feet wide. All along the narrow road were houses and openings in the rock walls that lead down other paths, other roads, some leading to caverns even larger than the one they were going through. Like many cave systems, there was no uniform shape or size to the caverns. Unlike many caves, the caverns of this planet were large and dry and strangely warm.  
  
The geothermal warmth from a stable core kept them at a steady 25.5C (78F), making it feel like spring year round. Also, unheard of in most systems, the axis of D2 was exactly parallel to that of the star it orbited, making the days a uniform half daylight/half dark, fifteen hours of each in the thirty hour day. The, only slightly, elliptical orbit afforded the surface very mild changes of season. Not that it mattered to the underground inhabitants beyond the extra long growing season. Fortunately the strange radiation didn't affect the ability to grow the fruits and vegetables they needed to survive.  
  
The underground city of Dionysus 2 was a truly amazing place. Especially when you considered it had been built, literally, from nothing and without the backing of a major company or interest group with funds to make the place habitable. Everyone who came to D2 brought something to the city and everyone worked to make it a home. Hard core criminals weren't anymore welcome than the hunters or mercs that looked for them. D2 was a place of escape, a safe haven for the people who could no longer live in a society that cast them out. It was a place for families as well as individuals who just wanted to be left alone. D2 was, above all other things, a community. More than that, it was a family and everyone who lived there contributed to the well being of the whole.  
  
Turning sharply, Doc maneuvered the jeep through a narrow opening into another cavern, this one not quite as wide as the main one, not quite as densely populated. He drove a bit before turning again and stopping abruptly in front of a long, low, wooden structure. "Home sweet home," Doc said, breaking the silence as he shut the electric engine off. He climbed out of the jeep and headed toward the door. He paused a moment, waiting for Riddick and Jack. "Well, c'mon. Let's see what we've got."  
  
Carefully extracting himself from Jack's side, Riddick jumped out of the jeep, his heavy booted feet kicking up a small cloud of dust. He gently picked Jack up and carried her, like a child, into the house after Doc. From what he'd seen on the trip through the city, things had changed very little in the eight years since he'd been there. There were a few more houses, a few more kids playing, but everything else seemed exactly as he remembered it. Except for the attractive woman who met them at the door.  
  
The woman looked to be in her early forties. She was about five four and curvaceous, with short hair, Riddick figured it was probably red since Doc liked redheads, and a sweet smile that made her seem younger than the maturity in her eyes would suggest. There was concern on her face as she looked at Jack. "What have we here?"  
  
Doc moved past her, urging Riddick to follow. "Rick, this is Amy, my partner. Amy, this is Rick and our little patient here is Jack." With little time for pleasantries, he bypassed the living room, moving through a set of swinging doors into the 'clinic' area. "Follow me, Son. Amy, I'm going to need some help." He moved quickly through the softly lit rooms and pushed through a wide, metal door, holding it open so that Riddick could carry Jack through. "Right in here."  
  
Nodding to Amy, Riddick followed Doc through the door, blinking in the sudden light as he flipped the switch, though the dark contacts helped a bit. Beyond the door was a bright, sterile room that smelled of antiseptic. The floor and walls were covered with white tiles, the counters were metal and there was a padded operating table in the center of the room with a huge light suspended over it. The operating room and the equipment in it were another new addition to Doc's home. Riddick hated the smell, the cold feeling of the room. Though he knew he should be glad for the updates for Jack's sake, his stomach tied into knots as he laid Jack down onto the cold table. He'd never liked hospitals or doctors much, except for Doc, but he especially didn't like that he was there because of Jack. He'd always thought it was bad when he was the patient, this was much worse.  
  
Jack shivered as her skin touched the cool surface of the operating table. "Are we there yet?" she asked, opening her eyes and blinking up at Riddick. Her nose wrinkled as she smelled the unmistakable odor of antiseptic.  
  
Frowning, he nodded down at her, holding onto her hand as Amy appeared at his side with a warm blanket to drape over her legs. "Yeah. We're here." He managed a small smile. "Doc's going to fix you right up."  
  
Turning on his best bedside manner, Doc smiled down at Jack, taking one small hand in his. "Hey there. I'm Doc, an old friend of Rick here, and this is my partner Amy. It's nice to meet you Jack."  
  
Amy moved efficiently around him, pulling out the equipment and supplies they would need. She set up an IV at the head of the bed and handed Doc the supplies he'd need. Stopping for a moment, she brushed her fingers over Jack's forehead, combing back the loose hair that had worked out of her now tangled braid. The look on her face was concerned but serene, almost maternal. "You just relax, we're going to take good care of you." Pulling out a small drawer at the head of the bed, she punched in a series of codes and waited while the med-scan came online.  
  
Doc sprayed Jack's hand with anesthetic mist and swabbed it with antiseptic. "Ok, sweetheart, you're dehydrated and you've got a nasty old infection, so I'm going to be on the safe side here and get you set up with an IV." He spoke to her the whole time, telling her exactly what they were doing. "Now, while I do that, Amy is going to use the med-scan and try to see what we can see before we do anything else. You just hold on to Rick's hand and this won't take but a minute."  
  
Jack knew she was in some kind of hospital and that the people talking to her were doctors, but beyond that she was a little fuzzy. The bright light of the room hurt her eyes, so she just let them drift closed. "Who's Rick?"  
  
Riddick might have laughed if the situation were different. "That's me. I was incapacitated with a bit in my mouth for a while when Doc first met me, so when he started calling me Rick I couldn't correct him. And he's old and set in his ways, so he just decided that's what he'd call me whether I liked it or not."  
  
Smiling at the younger man, Doc finished setting up the IV and started the saline drip, attaching a bag of broad-spectrum antibiotics to the IV unit. "There you go, that didn't even hurt, did it?"  
  
Wearily shaking her head, Jack could feel the cool liquid as it entered her veins. It was an unpleasant feeling, but it didn't hurt. She tightened her loose grip on Riddick's hand, hospitals had never been one of her favorite places, and she avoided them when at all possible. "When can I go home?" Even in her confused state, all she wanted right now was to be back on the Persephone, heading for some nice, quiet planet, with Riddick holding her as she slept. When had she started thinking of the old ship as 'home'? But it wasn't the ship, it was Riddick. Wherever she was, as long as she was with him, would be home.  
  
Didn't she remember she couldn't go home? Probably not in the state she was in. Riddick wasn't exactly sure how to answer that. "I don't know," he said truthfully.  
  
Amy looked up from the med-scan readouts, frowning. She slid a sidelong glance at Riddick before looking over the table at Doc. "You might want to look at this."  
  
"What is it?" Riddick didn't like not knowing what was going on and he had the distinct feeling that there was something important that they weren't telling him.  
  
Doc looked over the readouts, the frown on his face matching Amy's. "It looks like there's a little more to it than a nasty flesh wound and an infection." He nodded at Amy and she started moving about, gathering more instruments and supplies and setting up the sterile field. "Son, it looks like the shot grazed her kidney. The kidney itself looks like it's not been in the best of shape for a while, and this was just the last straw. That's where the infection is coming from." He rubbed Jack's arm. "Darlin', we need to get in there and take out the source of the infection. That means we're going to have to do surgery."  
  
Frowning, Riddick unconsciously squeezed Jack's hand more tightly. "You mean you're going to have to remove the kidney? What will that do to her?" *I should have just taken her back to Orion Station,* he chastised himself. *DAMNIT! If it wasn't for me, she wouldn't be here in the first place.*  
  
Doc could see the anger and guilt that passed across Riddick's face before he schooled his features into the familiar emotionless mask. "Rick, I don't think, from the looks of things, that this kidney has been working the way it should for a very long time. The gunshot wound was just the catalyst that set things into motion. It would have had to be removed sooner or later anyway."  
  
Riddick remembered what Jack had told him that first night he'd gone to her apartment. About her father and how badly he had beaten her that last time before she ran away. The kidney had probably been damaged then. Unfortunately, that knowledge didn't make him feel any better. He looked down at her, she looked so small and fragile, nothing at all like the brave young woman who had followed him down the corridor, broken into his ship, faced him down on his own flight deck, faced down an armed mercenary just to free him. "You still didn't tell me what it would do to her."  
  
"She's young and in seemingly good health otherwise, her other kidney is functioning just as it should be," he lay a hand on Riddick's shoulder and it spoke volumes as to their friendship that the larger man didn't pull away. "She should be just fine." A nod from Amy told him everything was set, whenever he was ready. "I'm gonna have to ask you to leave, though. You just go on out into the house and make yourself to home. Get some rest, get something to eat, whatever you need to do, and I'll be out just as soon as I'm done."  
  
Jack held tightly to Riddick's hand and opened her eyes, squinting in the glare of the bright lights. She understood that Doc wanted to do surgery, and she knew she could trust him, but she was scared. "Please don't leave."  
  
The small voice, the look of fear in her eyes, clawed at Riddick's heart. Leaning down, he kissed her on the forehead. "Don't worry, Jack. Doc will take good care of you."  
  
Amy laid a small hand on Riddick's arm, giving him a sympathetic smile. "If it would be easier, you can stay until she's asleep."  
  
Doc smiled down at Jack, brushing his hand over her cheek. "Ok, sweetheart, this isn't going to hurt a bit, I promise." Inserting a hypodermic into the IV in her hand, he slowly depressed the plunger. "Just count back from a hundred and the next thing you know, you'll be waking up." Jack felt a warmth spreading up her arm. Before she even had time to think about counting she was asleep.  
  
Riddick held Jack's hand until he felt her grip loosen. The feeling was disturbing, as if her life was slipping away. He watched her for a moment, making certain she was still breathing, before he lay her hand down to her side and walked out of the operating room, leaving Doc and Amy to their work. 


	26. Chapter 26 Waiting

Chapter 26 - Waiting  
  
Riddick walked through the clinic without so much as a backwards glance. He couldn't afford to look back because he'd want to go back in there. Not that it would help Jack at all, but he wasn't selfless enough to care about that. It would help him to know that she wasn't going to die on him. He ran a hand over his head, the stubble reminding him that he hadn't bothered shaving in a few days. He'd been too worried about Jack. Wouldn't it just be the best cosmic joke for him to save this kid's life thirteen years ago just to have her die on him after trying to save him, after he'd already made the monumental mistake of letting himself care about her? That's the kind of cosmic justice he'd learned to expect in his forty-three years of life.  
  
It took a great effort not to put his fist through something as he walked through the obscenely serene waiting room. He wondered absently who had decided that waiting rooms should be quiet, serene places. Quiet and serene was for self-reflection and contemplating the universe. When someone you cared about was hurt, those were the last things you wanted to do. If any of the designers responsible for that bit of wisdom had needed to actually spend time in one they'd know that there should be a lot of noise and distractions, like a bar, or maybe a gym with something you could hit. Fluffy chairs and pretty colors just didn't cut it.  
  
He remembered back to the last time he'd been in a waiting room. He'd been seventeen, and Samantha had been sixteen. They'd lied about their ages, among other things, when they'd gone to the clinic, though why they bothered he didn't now know. No one at the home would have given a shit that he'd knocked her up, they just would have had one of the clinicians quickly abort the baby. But they would have made certain that the two of them were kept apart for the rest of their 'stay' and neither of them wanted that. He'd thought then that the two hours he'd spent in the waiting room of the clinic were the hardest he'd ever have to spend. *Boy, I was stupid as a kid,* he thought as he pushed through the swinging doors that led into the entry hall.  
  
Even though he didn't really want to, his mind quickly did the calculation. If the baby had lived, if it had been given a chance to, his son would be just about Jack's age. *How fucked up is that?* he thought, wondering why he was even thinking back to something that happened twenty-six years ago anyway. Maybe it was just his brain's way of kicking him in the ass and saying "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, ASSHOLE!? SHE'S A BABY COMPARED TO YOU!" And why did it matter anyway? It wasn't like they had any kind of future together.  
  
Moving through the living room and into the kitchen, Riddick opened the refrigerator and peered into the chilled interior. Milk, something that looked like juice, fruit, vegetables. What was he supposed to eat? He wasn't a rabbit. What he really needed was a good stiff drink. "Where the hell's the beer?" And then he remembered that Doc didn't drink anymore. "SHIT!" He leaned his forehead against the cool surface of the refrigerator door and closed his eyes. How was he supposed to relax when Jack was only a hundred feet away getting cut in half so they could take her insides out? And who's fault was that? His? Hers? "Stupid kid." Why the hell did she have to try to save him anyway? He'd had things under control. *Unlike now,* he thought bitterly.  
  
Whatever it was he was looking for, he wasn't going to find it in the refrigerator. He felt restless, and pissed off, and caged in and he knew that wasn't a good combination. People generally got hurt when he was in a mood like that. Best if he just tried to calm his ass down and chill the fuck out. That was going to be hard without something to focus on, or something to beat the shit out of. Closing the door, he was proud that he didn't slam it, he left the kitchen and crossed back into the wide living room.  
  
Needing something to do, Riddick found himself crouching in front of the low bookshelves that lined the wall under the wide front window. Why anyone built windows in an underground home, he had never figured out. Probably to keep the illusion of normalcy. He didn't really care, he was just glad there were books. Books had been his escape his whole life. The stories in comic books had allowed him to escape the confines of the home when he was a kid and his love of reading had grown from there. Which was good since there wasn't a whole hell of a lot else to do when you were alone on a ship out in deep space for months at a time. Doc was an avid mystery reader, so Riddick plucked one of the many paperbacks off the shelf, not really caring what the plot was as long as it would occupy his mind for a while.  
  
Dropping down into an overstuffed chair, he took a moment to stretch the taut muscles of his back, shoulders, and neck. The angry energy was still there, humming under the surface of his skin, though he could feel it ebbing, leaving behind it a bone deep tiredness. For the last three days he hadn't had a chance to indulge the anger he had felt toward Jack for doing something so stupid as putting her life in jeopardy because of him. He hadn't allowed himself to feel that anger toward her because he'd had to take care of her, she'd needed him. Now he didn't have that buffer and the anger was back, warring with his concern for her. He also hadn't slept much in the past three days, even before then, so the lack of sleep was not helping his mood at all. Taking a deep breath and blowing it out, trying to gather his emotions in check, he forced himself to relax. Feeling a killer headache coming on, he tried to ignore it. In an effort to distract himself, he opened the book and began to read.  
  
*****************************************************  
  
Thanks to the larcenous heart of one of their residents, the contents of a decommissioned med ship had made their way to D2. Doc was grateful for the much needed upgrade no matter how it had been acquired. The equipment might not have been brand new or top of the line, but it was a damn sight better than anything they'd had before, and it was a lot better than you'd see on a lot of ships or outer rim posts. All in all, Doc and Amy couldn't complain.  
  
Doc had to admit that Amy was another godsend. She had joined their community a short time after being released from a minimum-security prison in the Erinyes sector, having been imprisoned for twenty years for poisoning her abusive husband. During her time in prison, she had studied medicine and nursing. Though she could never hold a degree, she hoped that some day she could get a job in a clinic somewhere she would be able to help other abused women.  
  
When she was released, no one would hire her for anything more than the most menial of labor, so when she'd met Trevor, one of D2's 'hunter/gatherers' (the people who would go off planet to get the supplies the community needed), she'd been more than willing to go back to the planet with him. It had taken a little time, but she and Doc had eventually clicked, then they'd more than clicked. After a while, the two of them became a unit. They finished each other's sentences, anticipated each other's needs, and when they worked together it was as if they had always been a team. Doc didn't know what he would do without her, and Amy couldn't imagine her life without Doc. It might not have been passion, but it was love.  
  
Doc looked down at his patient. The gunshot wound itself hadn't been so bad, Rick had done a good job of patching the kid up and it had just taken some internal and external stitches to fix that part up. Doc had been a good surgeon, and he'd always prided himself on his stitching, so there would be hardly any scars at all. The other part, however, was a little more complicated. The surgery to remove Jack's kidney would require two small incisions on her side for the instruments and a larger one just under her belly button where his hand would enter her abdomen. Plus, it would take a good deal longer.  
  
Four hours later, Amy checked on Jack's vitals and smiled. "She's doing good, want me to cut back the anesthetic?"  
  
"All done here, go ahead and cut her back." Doc was finishing up the last of the sutures. Standing back, he looked over his handiwork, a smug look on his face. "I guess I still got it." He set the instruments to the side, and stepped outside the sterile field to wash his hands. "I can get her back to the recovery bed, why don't you go ahead and check on Rick, make sure he hasn't broken anything. Maybe get him a sandwich or something, I doubt he's eaten."  
  
Amy moved over to Doc's side, carefully arranging all the instruments into a basket and setting it inside the small sterilization unit that would wash the instruments with ozone enriched water and disinfect them with the same ozone gas that infused the air in the room. "So this is the man that helped you to escape?"  
  
He hadn't told her everything, but she knew enough to know Riddick wasn't someone to mess with. Doc finished washing up and planted a loud kiss on Amy's mouth. "One and the same." He smiled at her as he pulled out the antigrav gurney and activated it. "So just don't sneak up on him or startle him and you'll be fine."  
  
"Thanks for the warning." Raising an eyebrow at him, she pulled off the scrub coat she'd been wearing and threw it in the bio-wash unit. She moved over to the sink and washed her hands in the sterilized water, glad for the ozone generator that had come from the med ship. Allowing her hands to air dry, she watched as Doc gently moved the girl to the gurney. "You sure you don't need any help with her?"  
  
"No." The gurney barely moved under her slight weight. "Little thing doesn't way more than a pin," he moved the IV over to the gurney and started back toward a door that led to another new part of their little clinic. "Is the oxygen unit set up?"  
  
Amy stopped at the door. "All set." She watched as Doc pushed the antigrav gurney through the doors and smiled. She knew he was always very concerned about his patients, and that's why he wanted to personally get her settled into the recovery bed. He'd watch her for the next little bit until he was absolutely certain she was doing well.  
  
Moving through the clinic and back into the house proper, Amy saw Riddick lying back in one of the armchairs, his long legs stretched out, crossed at the ankles. Though his head was propped against his hand as if in concentration, the book he had been reading was lying open, facedown on his stomach, and the steady rise and fall of his chest told her he was asleep.  
  
She decided to let him sleep for a while; he certainly looked like he could use it. Moving as quietly as she could, she went into the kitchen and pulled out a pot of vegetable soup she'd made the night before. Ladling some into a large mug, she heated it quickly in the microwave and added some healing herbs from the cupboard. She appreciated modern technology when it came to healing, but she also knew the benefit of the old and tried homeopathic remedies too. Of course, her knowledge of herbs and plants had also gotten her thrown in jail, but you had to take the bad with the good.  
  
Moving back into the living room, she sat the cup of soup down on the table and debated whether or not to wake Riddick up. *He really does seem exhausted, maybe I should just let him sleep.* Grabbing a throw off the couch, she moved to the side of the chair. Without a second thought, she did as she would for Doc if he'd fallen asleep reading and reached for the book.  
  
Riddick's eyes opened as he felt someone standing next to the chair and his hand flashed out, grabbing the person's arm by the wrist, his large hand closing around the small wrist and squeezing it until he heard the cry of astonishment and pain from the woman. When he looked up he saw Amy standing there, a look of fear and surprise on her face. It took a moment for him to gather his bearings and remember where he was, what he was doing there, before he released her arm. His voice was low, unrepentant as he spoke. "You shouldn't sneak up on someone like that."  
  
Amy's voice was just as low and unrepentant as her fear abated and a snap of temper surfaced. "I poisoned the last man who manhandled me." She dropped the throw over his lap and took a step back. Rubbing at the angry red mark of Riddick's hand on her wrist. "Doc asked me to come out and tell you he'll be out to talk to you soon."  
  
Throwing the light blanket over the back of the chair, Riddick sat up, rubbing his face. *How long have I been asleep?* His stomach growled as he smelled the fragrant vegetable soup. "How's she doing?" He wasn't sure if it was hunger or something else that caused his stomach to clench. The anger from earlier had diminished making room for the concern once more, though he could still feel the foul mood lingering just under the surface. He was going to have to figure out whether he wanted to hug Jack or strangle her before he saw her again.  
  
Amy's temper faded when she saw the look of concern flit briefly over his face. "She's doing really well, Doc just likes to be there for a little while, just in case." She knew she didn't have to explain the whys to Riddick. "He'll be out in a bit."  
  
Relief washed over him, though he'd save the victory party until he got to talk to Doc. The younger man nodded, he knew why Doc needed to be sure, it was hard to have ghosts of the past following you around all the time. If anyone knew that, it was Riddick. He watched her as she turned to walk away. "Thanks."  
  
Turning back to look at him, she said nothing for a moment. "He thinks you should eat." She pointed at the soup on the table and a wicked grin crossed her face. "I added a little something extra to it, enjoy your soup." Still smiling, she crossed the entryway and disappeared through the clinic's doors.  
  
Picking up the cup, he sniffed at it, eyeing it warily. Didn't she say she'd poisoned someone? But Doc wouldn't let her work with patients unless she was safe, right? Hunger finally won out and he took a large bite of the warm, delicious soup. *Oh well,* he thought, *I didn't piss her off until after she'd made the soup so I'm probably safe, for now.* 


	27. Chapter 27 If I Leave Before You Wake

Chapter 27 - If I Leave Before You Wake.  
  
Doc came into the room and found Riddick sitting in the chair reading one of his books, or at least appearing to. He crossed the room and sat on the couch across from his old friend. "Well, you look a little better. Still look like hammered shit, but not everyone can be as good looking as I am." He smiled as the younger man rolled his eyes.  
  
"How's Jack?" Riddick knew Amy had said she'd done well during surgery, but he still wanted to hear the words from Doc.  
  
"She's doing good, real good. Well, at least as well as can be expected under the circumstances, but she's out of the danger zone." Suddenly feeling every bit of his age, he sighed tiredly and leaned back, rubbing his fingers over his closed eyes. "Got a strong will to survive, that one."  
  
Riddick was suddenly reminded of that night in the dark and rain on that hellish planet. How many other kids her age would have been able to keep it together long enough to get through that? "Yes. She does." Closing the book, he laid it on the table. He didn't bother to mark his place since he hadn't really been paying much attention to it in the first place. "So, she's going to be ok?"  
  
Doc knew Riddick wasn't someone he needed to pull punches with, but he wished he had a more definite prognosis. "I don't know. She's not the first person to have to live with just one kidney, but how well her body handles it will remain to be seen." He held up his hand to tick off the good points. "She's young, strong, and on the upside the kidney hadn't been working at 100% for a while anyway so it shouldn't be a huge shock to her system. But there's no perfect guarantee that everything will be just peachy keen. If she was at a research facility, or even one of the big mainstream hospitals that deals with transplants, she probably would have qualified for a cloned organ, but that's just not an option here." He shrugged apologetically. "For what it's worth, I think she's going to be fine."  
  
There were no guarantees in life, Riddick knew that, but he was glad to know that Doc thought she was going to be ok. "That's good enough for me."  
  
Doc was glad Riddick trusted him, that meant a lot to him. "You wanna see her? She's still out of it, but you can see her."  
  
"Yeah," he said quietly, pushing himself out of the chair. He wanted to see her and though he was still angry that she'd endangered her life, right then all he wanted was to reassure himself that she was alive.  
  
Riddick followed as Doc led him through a back hallway to the room where Jack was recovering. "Damn. You've been busy." The clinic area had grown a lot since the last time Riddick had been on D2.  
  
"We're moving up in the world." Doc pushed open a door and led him through the small ward to a curtained off area and slipped inside.  
  
Riddick hadn't really been prepared to see Jack lying pale against the white sheets with tubes and monitors and the oxygen mask over her face. Despite her willowy height, she looked so small and vulnerable. His heart clenched painfully in his chest. "How long will it take for her to recover, until she's ready to leave?"  
  
Doc brushed his fingers over her forehead, he was pleased with the readouts on the monitors. "About a month, give or take."  
  
Riddick blew out a breath. "A month is a long damn time." He knew if he stayed that long, the people on D2 would start to get nervous.  
  
Doc put a hand on his shoulder, "I know you're more high profile than most of the people around here are comfortable with, but no one is going to make you leave. Not after I get done with them." Doc truly liked the boy, he was nowhere near as bad as everyone liked to think, nowhere near as bad as Riddick liked to think.  
  
"I won't put you in that position, Doc." Riddick shrugged. "I got some stuff I need to do anyway."  
  
"You can stay here for a bit, though." He looked over at the bed where Jack was now peacefully sleeping under the influence of the drugs Doc had given her. "Or if you have to go, you can leave her. I'll make sure nothing happens to her."  
  
Riddick weighed his options, he could wait until she woke up and explain the situation to her. It would be safer if she'd just stay here while he went to New Sydney to get that stupid box she wouldn't shut up about. But he knew if he did, she'd never let him leave without her. Even if it was safe for her to travel given her current medical condition, it would be dangerous there now. The authorities would be watching Imam's place for Jack to show up, they'd be waiting for her and Riddick didn't know if he'd be able to get her back out again alive. He knew she wanted to see Imam, if for no other reason than to say goodbye, but she was just going to have to wait until the heat was off a little. Maybe in a few months she could go back, but not now. He realized that his mind was already made up.  
  
Nodding to Doc, he looked the man in the eye. "You make sure she stays safe. I'll be back for her if I can, if I can't." he let the thought trail off. "Well, if I can't, just keep her safe." Walking over to the bed where Jack lay, he bent down and brushed his lips over her forehead. He knew she was too far out of it to know he was even there, the kiss was more for himself than her. Turning away from her, he strode toward the curtain. He could make it to the ship and be off planet way before daylight hit, and before Jack woke up, if he went now.  
  
"You're leaving now then?" Doc had thought he'd at least stay a few days.  
  
"If I leave now, I can get off planet before daylight and before she wakes up." He smiled down at Jack. "If I try to leave while she's awake, you'll have a bitch of a time keeping her here. She's pretty damn persistent."  
  
Doc shrugged. "Ok. Well, let me tell Amy we're going and I'll take you back to your ship."  
  
******************************************************************  
  
The ride back to the ship was as quiet as the trip to the caves had been. Neither of them spoke until they reached the ship. As before it was Doc who broke the silence. Turning off the engine, he leaned his forearms on the steering wheel, his hands clasped together. "I have something I want to talk to you about."  
  
"What is it?" From the look on the older man's face, Riddick wasn't sure if he should be nervous or not.  
  
"I think I can fix your eyes."  
  
Well, that certainly hadn't been what he'd expected. Riddick frowned at Doc, the skin between his eyebrows furrowing deeply. "What do you mean "fix" my eyes?"  
  
When Doc first heard of the research being done, he'd thought of Riddick. He knew that the shine job had been necessary, but he couldn't help feeling he'd left the man with an Achilles heel he didn't need. "There's a new procedure, a computerized ocular implant, that's being used to treat blindness." He could see that he had Riddick's attention now, and he smiled. "If we can get the equipment, I can modify it to return your normal sight."  
  
Riddick leaned back in his seat, scratching through his goatee in thought. The idea that he could have his normal sight back had never even occurred to him, he'd always figured the shine job was a one way ticket. Now Doc was offering him a return trip. He wasn't really sure how he felt about that. He'd had his shine for so long now, he didn't know what he'd do if he couldn't see in the dark. "I don't know, Doc. I've kinda gotten used to my eyes the way they are."  
  
A smile crossed Doc's face. "That's the beauty of it. Some of the trials were on miners who'd had shines. There was a 75% success rate on returning their normal sight while allowing them to keep the benefits of the shine. Basically the implant is an ocular sensor that replaces the cornea, iris, and lens, and sends signals that are normally processed by the retina directly to the ocular nerve. It's kind of an eye bypass surgery. With just a little adjustment in the programming and the equipment, the lens sensor can be set to 'turn off' and the plasma display that takes the place of the iris becomes transparent letting the retina process visual information the way it normally would, in other words you'd see as you do now."  
  
This sounded just a little too good to be true, so it probably wasn't. "So, what's the downside of this little miracle?"  
  
Doc took a deep breath and his smile vanished. Like most things in medicine, there were no guarantees. "There are some side effects that may or may not diminish with time. There's a lot of pain involved in the procedure, and the conservative estimate on the recovery time, especially with the modifications, is six months."  
  
Riddick raised an eyebrow at Doc. He'd known it was too good to be true, no way could he be down for six months. "And just what are the side effects?"  
  
"The side effects for the blind patients are minimal. For the miners the side effects were loss of vision, control problems with the implant, and chronic pain."  
  
"Oh, so nothing big," Riddick said sarcastically.  
  
"It's not as bad as it sounds," Doc countered. "That was just a very small handful of the test subjects, overall the tests were very successful." He crossed his arms over his chest and scratched his jaw with his thumb. "The biggest problem, though, is getting one of the implants. It's not like we can just walk into a research facility and ask for one. The choices are pretty much theft or black market, and they are big time expensive on the black market." He knew, he'd checked. He'd always known that Riddick would come back someday.  
  
Riddick thought about what Doc had told him. If there was a chance to get his normal vision back, should he take it? Even with the risks? "I'll think about it," he said at last, and he meant it. 


	28. Chapter 28 Separation Anxiety

Chapter 28 - Separation Anxiety  
  
Awareness came slowly back to Jack as she fought her way through the fog that would lead her back to consciousness. Pain was first, then the brightness trying to penetrate her closed eyelids, then she felt something covering her nose and mouth. Panic set in, and her hand moved to push the mask away. The simple effort made her feel weak, powerless as her hand dropped back to her side. She sighed, trying to open her too heavy eyelids, despite the bright glare.  
  
The room was stark white, and she squinted her eyes against the glare. Her first thought was, *am I dead? Is this heaven?* But if it was heaven she wouldn't feel so much like shit. "Maybe this is hell," she said aloud, but the sound was muffled by the oxygen mask.  
  
Amy heard the change in the monitors a few moments before she heard Jack speak. Smiling, glad Jack was starting to come around, she crossed the room and sat next to the girl's bed. "Well, well. Looks like someone finally decided to wake up." Amy was beginning to wonder if the painkillers were too much for her ravaged system. "Just breathe deep, the oxygen will help clear the cobwebs out of your brain." She settled the mask more comfortably on Jack's face.  
  
Jack turned toward the voice and a woman's face swam in front of her eyes before she finally focused on it. Taking deep breaths as she was instructed, things did seem to gain clarity. She vaguely remembered the pretty red-haired woman from before. *What did she say her name was?* It was hard to make voice work as it should, like she'd not used it in ages. "Where's Riddick?"  
  
Amy frowned. *Leave it to men to leave me here to explain to this poor child that she's just been left on a strange planet with people she doesn't even know. As if she's not got enough to deal with.* "Hon, I'm afraid that Mr. Riddick is gone."  
  
*Gone?* What did she mean gone? Gone to the store, gone to the bathroom, how gone was he? "Where?" Jack felt a tightening in her chest that she was pretty sure had nothing to do with her injuries.  
  
"Doc just took him back to the ship a little bit ago." Amy pursed her full lips. "He didn't fill me in on all the particulars, but I got the impression that Mr. Riddick was going to try to be off planet before sunrise." She could see the distress in Jack's eyes. "Now don't you worry, sweetheart. Doc and I will take good care of you." Feeling her natural maternal instincts welling up inside her, she took Jack's hand in one of hers and brushed her free hand over the girl's face. "Doc will be back soon, hon, I'm sure he'll be able to tell you a lot more about it than I can. Just don't stress yourself about it now. You just focus on getting better."  
  
*Focus on getting better?* Right now she just felt like someone had pulled her heart out. How did you get better from that? *How could he leave me like this?* She didn't want to cry but she was never very good at being sick, she always ended up weepy. Knowing that she couldn't have traveled anyway didn't make it feel any better. Knowing that she would have slowed him down didn't make it any better. Knowing that she may never see him again definitely didn't make it any better. She felt warm tears well up in her eyes and even as she tried to blink them back one escaped and flowed in a hot line down her cheek. *He didn't even bother to say goodbye.*  
  
*****************************************************  
  
As the ship lifted away from the planet, Riddick's thoughts drifted back to Jack. A part of his mind told him that he'd be better off, she'd be better off, if he'd just leave her there on D2 and disappear again. She'd certainly be safer there than hanging around with him and he didn't need the hassle of having to watch anyone's back but his own. But he knew that he wouldn't do that, he couldn't just leave her again, she didn't deserve that. He knew if there was any way possible, he'd be back for her. She was his responsibility now, even more so than when she was a kid. A responsibility that he took very seriously.  
  
******************************************************  
  
The day stretched on and Jack became more aware of her surroundings, more conscious of everything that was going on and every speck of pain in her body. When Doc had returned from taking Riddick to the Persephone, he had assured her that Riddick had every intention of returning for her after her recovery, but what was that old adage? The road to hell is paved with good intentions. He also explained part of the problem, that the people of D2 became a bit nervous with someone has high profile as Riddick hiding out on their planet. Jack knew it was logical, maybe even noble she supposed, for him to leave to avoid bringing any undue attention to the planet and its inhabitants, but that didn't seem to assuage the pain in her heart. Doc made sure to tell her that Riddick made him promise to take care of her and keep her safe, but she didn't want safe, she wanted Riddick.  
  
In an attempt to divert the conversation away from the topic of Riddick, Doc patted Jack on the leg. "So. You already know that I'm Doc and this is Amy. Do you usually go by Jack, or is there something you'd rather we call you?"  
  
"You can either call me AJ or Jackie." *No one calls me Jack, but Riddick,* she added silently. It was strange now that she thought about it. It hadn't even occurred to her to correct him and he hadn't bothered using the feminine version of the name. Just like she'd never bothered asking him if wanted to be called something other than Riddick. She didn't mind. *I wonder if he minds,* she thought idly. "I can even stand Jacqueline, that's what my father calls me. Just don't call me Audrey," she let a ghost of a smile to play over her lips. There was nothing wrong with the name, she just never did really see herself as an Audrey.  
  
"All right, Jackie it is then." Doc smiled down at her. "I know you're in a lot of pain right now, but I promise it's going to get much worse before it gets better." He was talking as much about her pain at Riddick leaving as he was about the surgery. "Seriously, though, I'm going to start weaning you off the IV drip meds, so it's going to get more uncomfortable. If you get to hurting too bad tell me or Amy and we'll try to get you feeling better." The look in his eyes was kind, and a little tired. "I don't know how much you remember from before surgery, but we had to remove one of your kidneys. It looked like it had been damaged before the gunshot wound, were you aware of that? Do you know how that happened?"  
  
Jack just nodded, shuddering at the memory. She remembered back to when Imam had taken her to a doctor for a physical as soon as they had reached New Sydney. It had been part of the process of him filing to become her legal guardian. The doctor had explained that there had been extensive trauma damage to her right kidney and pointed out scar tissue and evidence of cracked ribs and other trauma related injuries that were consistent with abuse. That was when she had been forced to explain about being beaten by her father. The doctor hadn't even bothered checking out the story, something in his eyes told Jack that he believed her story, and he had pushed through Imam's petition no questions asked.  
  
Doc recognized the look on Jack's face and didn't want to press her to say any more than she wanted to. "Ok. I'm sorry we aren't advanced enough to be able to do organ cloning, but I think you're going to be just fine. I'm going to be monitoring you closely through your recovery but nobody knows your body better than you so I want you to pay real close attention to it. I need for you to tell me if anything seems off. It'll be at least a month before you're completely recovered and obviously for the first little bit everything is going to be off, but after a while you should go back to normal. If it doesn't feel right after a while, let me know."  
  
"I will," she agreed. *Geez, a month? No wonder Riddick skipped out while he could.* Who would want to hang around for a month waiting for her to recover. It'd be like watching paint dry. At least she had Doc and Amy, though. Riddick had left her with someone he trusted. Again. Even though she didn't know these people from Adam, she felt safe. She knew she could trust them. "Thank you both for taking care of me."  
  
"That's what friends are for." Doc hoped she would allow them to be her friends. He could see her begin to drift again, she had only so much energy after all and the pain medications were strong. She needed her rest. "Now, why don't you get a little more rest. We'll wake you up soon enough to do even more fun things like breathing exercises and trips to the bathroom." He made his voice sound like a carnival barker.  
  
Jack found herself smiling, despite the fatigue and pain that was dragging her back down. "I just can't wait." Before she knew it, she was asleep once more.  
  
*****************************************************************  
  
The first thing Riddick did as soon as he was a starjump away from the Areiadne Sector was to erase all records of ever having been there from his computer systems. Not that he anticipated having anyone going through his computer files, but it never hurt to take precautions, just in case. He wouldn't want some asshole finding out about D2. Next thing he had to do was to set up a series of starjumps that would take him on an erratic course through the known systems. He had already set up the ship's ident with a new set of stolen codes and a new name. In a few days he'd be able to head toward New Sydney.  
  
Through all the years and the many ident code changes, Riddick's ship had only had two names. Sisyphus and Persephone; he had always enjoyed Ancient Greek mythology. It didn't usually matter that the ship's name didn't change because most places looked more at the codes than names, plus he normally tried to keep a pretty low profile. The only reason he bothered changing the ident codes was to make it harder for someone to see where he'd been last, just in case someone got nosy. But this time everyone knew Richard B. Riddick was last seen on a ship named The Persephone. He didn't like having to give up the name, but keeping it now would just be stupid and asking for trouble. And life goes on (if you're lucky) so he'd get over it. A few more changes in the computers, and she was now the Bellerophon.  
  
Over the next week, Riddick took the Bellerophon through three more starjumps before turning 'toward' New Sydney. It wouldn't be for lack of trying if somebody managed to actually track him. They would just about have to have shoved a tracker up his ass without him noticing to be able to follow his course. Since he knew he was personally clean, and the ship was clean, he didn't worry too much about that, which was a good thing since he had his mind on other things.  
  
The week was harder than Riddick had anticipated. No matter how much he tried not to, his thoughts kept returning to Jack. He wished he could have kept contact with Doc to check on Jack's progress, but that just wasn't possible. He'd just have to trust Doc would take the best possible care of her.  
  
The bad part of being in space alone was that no matter how much time you spent reading or exercising or doing routine maintenance on the ship, you couldn't do it all day every day. There would always be time in the day for random thoughts to pop into your mind. Random thoughts like, *just what the hell am I going to do about Jack?* and other hard questions Riddick didn't know the answer to. He was glad it was time to head toward New Sydney, at least that would give him something else to focus on. 


	29. Chapter 29 Appreciate the Simple Things

Chapter 29 - Appreciate the Simple Things  
  
One day passed, blending into the next. Then more days and more. Jack could feel her body healing, could feel herself growing more accustomed to the pain as Doc and Amy began to wean her off the pain meds. And then the pain began to lessen to a constant dull ache. She supposed she should just be glad she was alive, but she couldn't work up much enthusiasm. She hated being this way. Weak, helpless, not even able to walk to the bathroom by herself. Having become accustomed at a very young age to taking care of herself, it grated at her that she couldn't even do simple things right now. At least she was starting to be able to walk short distances on her own, now. That was something. A part of her was glad that Riddick wasn't there to see her like that, it was bad enough he'd had to play nursemaid to her on the Persephone. She hated for him to see her as weak.  
  
Amy knew her new charge was going to have a rough time of it over the next few weeks. The recovery would be hard enough, but you didn't have to be a genius to see that the girl was pining for Riddick as well. Physically she was doing well, just a week out of surgery and she was down to pain meds only twice a day. Amy knew the young girl was feeling pain more often than that, but she refused to take any more than the smallest of doses. There was a story behind that, Amy was sure, but she wouldn't press. Maybe the news she was bringing her would help to snap Jack out of her blues.  
  
Smiling down at the Jack, Amy sat next to the bed. "I bet you are sick and tired of laying in this hospital bed all day long, aren't you?"  
  
Jack returned Amy's smile. She liked the older woman. If it hadn't been for her, Jack knew she would have gone stark raving mad. "God, what I wouldn't give to be able to go for a walk!'  
  
The look Amy gave her was sympathetic, she understood what it was like to be cooped up better than a lot of people. "I know, sweetie. It won't be much longer, I promise." She helped Jack sit up on the side of the bed, noticing the flash of pain that crossed the younger woman's face. "But I've got something to tell you that I think might just make your day."  
  
"Really?" Jack's smile widened. "What?"  
  
It made Amy feel good to see Jack's face light up. "How would you like to take a shower? A real one, not just the sonics."  
  
Jack closed her eyes in anticipation of the warm water sluicing over her skin. "Oh, I think that would be heaven."  
  
"Good." Pleased, Amy helped Jack to stand. "Doc says you can move out of here and into a real bed if you think you're ready to, so no more hospital gowns."  
  
"Stop! I don't think I can take all this excitement." Jack laughed as she leaned on Amy's arm, her legs shaking slightly in protest.  
  
The trip down the hall into the house was slow, but it was the longest stretch Jack had walked in over a week. She did pretty well on her own, only occasionally holding onto Amy's arm or steadying herself against walls, or chairs, or whatever happened to be handy. By the time they reached the spare bedroom that she'd be using, though, her legs were pretty shaky. Sitting down on the bed, she sighed heavily. "I don't suppose we could change that shower for a bath?" she asked, a wry smile touching her lips.  
  
"Sorry." Amy gave her an apologetic smile. "No bathtub, just a shower stall. But, there is a bench in the stall, so if you get too tired, you can sit down." Moving to a small bureau, Amy opened up a drawer. "I washed the clothes you had on." She laid them on the bed next to Jack.  
  
Jack fingered the material of the t-shirt. Riddick's t-shirt, and a pair of his boxers. The bra and panties, at least, were hers and Amy had managed to get the blood out of everything. She would have loved to have something of her own to wear, though, besides her underwear. Riddick hadn't known about the bags Alejandro had stashed on the Persephone, but he could have at least left her backpack. Then she'd have one change of clothes.  
  
Amy saw the look on her face. "I asked a couple of the girls if they had something you could wear, they'll be over later on. Doc thought it might be nice if you got to meet some of the people your own age too." She looked over at the gray t-shirt and boxers. "I'll get you a pair of Doc's sweats if you want." Jack would certainly be welcome to anything in her own closet, but since the younger woman was a good deal taller, she imagined Doc's things would fit a bit better.  
  
"Thanks, Amy." The older woman reminded her in some ways of her grandmother, not in age, just in the way Amy treated her. She couldn't really remember her own mother, but it was nice having someone mother you sometimes.  
  
Jack was tired down to her very bones, the walk from the hospital bed to her new room had taken a lot out of her. If it hadn't been for the prospect of a nice, warm shower, she'd be sorely tempted to just lay down and snuggle into the soft blankets. But the shower called to her, and she managed to finally stand up and make her slow way to the bathroom.  
  
The first thing she did was shed the hospital gown. Even if she had to wear someone else's clothes, it'd be nice to wear something other than the open backed gown. The second thing she did was unwind the long braid of her hair. That was another thing she was grateful to Amy for. If it hadn't been for her, Jack would have been very tempted to whack off the hair that had taken her so long to grow back even though she would have hated it. She knew it was silly but she was rather attached to her hair now. But Amy had painstakingly brushed and braided the long, heavy length of her hair every day after she took her sonic shower. Even though the sonics got it clean, though, it would be nice to wash it in some nice hot water.  
  
As Jack stepped toward the shower, she caught a glimpse of herself in the long mirror on the wall. She had avoided looking at a mirror since she'd been on D2, half afraid of what she'd see, but her reflection surprised her. She looked almost.normal. A little pale, a little thin, and there were smudges of dark under her eyes, but she didn't look like someone who had come close to death little more than a week before. Standing there, staring at her reflection, she let her gaze drop to her lower torso and let out the breath she'd been holding.  
  
Doc was not a great believer in heavy bandages unless it was an open wound, instead choosing to spray the stitched wounds with an antiseptic/anesthetic spray that allowed the wound to heal more naturally. There was only a small piece of gauze over the incision under her belly button to keep her gown from irritating it. She ran her fingers experimentally over the small indentations on her side where the bullet had ripped through her and the almost imperceptible incisions where Doc's surgical instruments had been. Remarkably, they were very nearly healed, he'd already taken the small stitches out so now all that was left were small pink, slightly puckered, lines. The only stitches still left were the incision under her belly button.  
  
"Well, I have to look at it sometime," she chided herself as she hesitated removing the gauze. If the other small wounds were any indicator, it might not even be so bad. Wincing as she removed the tape, she dropped the gauze into the trash receptacle and forced herself to look at the incision. It didn't look too bad, she supposed, though it would be a while before she wore a bikini, if she ever did again. She found herself wondering what Riddick would think of it, or even if he would ever see it. Even if he came back, she didn't know where she would stand with him, what their relationship would be. Not wanting to think about it just then, she turned away from her reflection and stepped into the shower stall, turning the water on as hot as she could stand it and let herself enjoy the simple pleasure of it. 


	30. Chapter 30 A Part Of Me

Chapter 30 - A Part Of Me  
  
Two weeks out of D2, the Bellerophon finally arrived at New Sydney. Falling into orbit around the planet, Riddick transmitted the required codes. There was always a moment of trepidation as he waited for the codes to be accepted, but finally a heavily accented voice emerged from the comm. "This is Planetary Control to cargo ship 99841-A2A, what is your destination, your business, and how long do you intend to stay?"  
  
Riddick released the breath he'd been holding. "Celedon Port." He knew that Imam lived in a small community several kilometers outside the large spaceport city, but this was as close as he would be able to get. "I'm here for refuel and re-supply so I'll be staying twenty-four to forty-eight hours."  
  
"Hold, CS A2A." There was silence for a moment before the voice returned. "Aye. You are cleared for landing. Adjust your heading to 84-14-62. Your ship will be berthed in hangar four. Welcome to New Sydney, Captain Carver."  
  
"Thank you, Control." A satisfied smile on his face, Riddick set the computer to the coordinates and began preparations for landing. Once on the ground, Riddick locked down the ship and headed over to the port authority. Unlike space stations, the amount paperwork required to enter a planet was remarkably small. Fifteen minutes later, he was walking out into the city, one mission on his mind.  
  
Celedon was much like every other port city in the known systems. It was large and busy and that was just the way Riddick liked it. The larger and the busier the city, the easier it was to blend in. Unfortunately, his goal wasn't anywhere in the city itself, but in the small community of Wallaby Bay, about a hundred kilometers west of the port city. He had been forced to leave his ship's PEV (planetary exploration vehicle) on a planet a couple of months earlier, and he hadn't had a chance to replace it. Taking public transport would be a little more conspicuous than he would like, so that left renting a vehicle of some sort. Fortunately for him, since he had a ship docked at the spaceport, renting a vehicle was a breeze. Twenty minutes after he walked into the rental company, he was driving toward Wallaby Bay.  
  
The hovercycle handled like a dream. Top speed of 200kph (125mph), Riddick kept it at a steady 150 for most of the trip, though he could easily have topped it out. The bike's basic construction was such that it was propelled by and suspended on an electromagnetic cushion that gave it a smooth ride over virtually any terrain. And the part Riddick liked most was, it was almost completely silent. "I gotta get me one of these," he said, kicking it up another gear. Enjoying the sheer freedom of the ride, he was almost sorry to arrive in Wallaby Bay a little under an hour later.  
  
Knowing that someone was probably watching Imam's house, Riddick found a quiet place to lay low for a while. Stashing the hovercycle, he waited patiently until nightfall. That was his time, his element; he owned the darkness. Slipping into the cover of the night, Riddick made his way to Imam's house.  
  
The house was very much like the holy man himself. Tall and simple and serene. A two storied, stucco home with a tiny patch of green lawn in the front and a spectacular garden in the back that reminded Riddick of pictures he'd seen once of Morocco on Earth. A fountain bubbled under a curving arch that dripped with flowers that Riddick couldn't name. He could picture Jack here as a young girl, sitting in the cool shade of the trees, listening to the calming burble of water, as she did her homework, or played, or daydreamed the afternoon away. Smiling to himself, he worked his way quickly through the gardens to the back door.  
  
The lock on the back door was easy enough to override, and the holy man didn't have any kind of alarms on the house. Why should he? Riddick didn't imagine much of anything ever happened in the quiet little community. Wouldn't the residents be in an uproar if they knew the old holy man was receiving such a notorious visitor that evening? He let himself into the kitchen and closed the door behind him, re-arming the lock before venturing into the rest of the house.  
  
Sensing that there was no one in the house, Riddick made his way through the living area and up the stairs. He looked into each room along the long hallway, wondering which was hers. There was no mistaking when he found Jack's room, though. Posters plastered the walls, the bed was covered with stuffed animals of every variety, and the room had a distinctively feminine flavor. He chuckled as he thought about how hard it must have been for the holy man to raise Jack and still let her be her own person. It must have taken every ounce of the man's strength at times.  
  
Stepping almost reverently into the room, Riddick took a moment to look around. One wall was covered with awards, trophies, accolades. He couldn't help the smile that touched the corners of his mouth as he saw proof of what he'd always known, she was an amazing girl. He wondered for a moment why she didn't take the awards with her, but he knew the answer. She didn't need pieces of paper to prove herself, she was confident in her abilities. That was a pretty rare gift in and of itself.  
  
Knowing that time was short, Riddick dropped down onto the floor and reached long arms under the bed. He felt around for a few moments before his hand came in contact with the smooth surface of the box. "Bingo."  
  
"Did you find what you were looking for, Mr. Riddick."  
  
Imam's voice startled, Riddick. The holy man had gotten quieter as he'd gotten older, but Riddick managed to recover quickly enough. Pulling out the box, Riddick stood and dropped onto the bed in a movement that he managed to make look fluid and graceful. "Got it right here." He smiled at Imam, shielding his eyes with his hand as he activated the lights. "Lights, twenty-five percent." It took a moment for him to adjust to the new brightness. "I guess I shoulda called first?" he asked, an amused smile on his face.  
  
Imam was frowning as he entered the room and stood opposite Riddick. "I do not find it amusing that you have broken into my home, violated my daughter's room." He indicated the box on Riddick's lap. "Although I must assume that Jacqueline told you of the box or you would not have known where to find it."  
  
Riddick's smile faded. "Jack asked me to come get the box. It's not like I could just send a message to let you know I was coming." He scratched at the stubble on his cheek. "I guess you know what happened on Orion Station?" There was no doubt in his mind that Imam had been told something, but he wished he knew what.  
  
A pained look crossed Imam's face. "Yes. I do." Imam said nothing for a moment and when he spoke again, his voice was quiet, hoarse. "Is Jacqueline with you here?" He didn't want to ask the question he most needed to know the answer to. Was she alive?  
  
"No." Silence stretched between them, and Riddick found he didn't quite know what to say. Riddick and Jack weren't the only ones affected by what happened on Orion, Imam loved Jack.  
  
Imam looked at Riddick, pain in his dark eyes. "Is it true? Is it true that Jacqueline killed a man?" He didn't want to believe the girl he'd raised as his own was capable of doing such a thing, but she had always been such an odd, strong willed child. He loved her as much as if she had been his by birth, but he would never presume to understand how her mind worked. Still, to murder another human in cold blood. No, he couldn't believe that of her.  
  
Riddick leveled his gaze at Imam. Under most circumstances he didn't have much use for religious men like Imam, but he respected the holy man. Through everything that had happened he had never once lost his faith. Riddick might have thought it was useless, but it took a lot of courage and strength to stand by your convictions like that. He had to respect him for that, and for raising Jack without dampening her spirit, allowing her to become her own person, not even forcing his own religion on her. Riddick imagined that had taken more faith and strength than facing down the bloodthirsty aliens on that bloody rock. "Yes. She did. But it was him or her, Jack made the right choice." He wouldn't tell Imam that Jack had been holding a gun on Gordon first, there were some things he didn't need to know.  
  
Searching Riddick's face, Imam knew that there was more to the story than the younger man was telling him, and he wasn't sure he really wanted to know. He did, however, want to know where his daughter was now. "Where is she, Mr. Riddick?" His voice cracked slightly. "Is she well?" He unconsciously fingered the prayer beads that always hung from his belt, sending out a silent prayer to Allah that she was all right.  
  
Never one to mince words, Riddick didn't see a reason to start now. "That piece of shit, Carson, shot her in the back. She lost a kidney." He looked away for a moment, the pain in Imam's eyes reminding him too much of his own concerns for Jack. It had been over two weeks since he'd seen her, since he'd left her still unconscious from surgery. Doc had assured him she would be fine, but he didn't really know for certain and that uncertainty ate at him more than it should. "I left her someplace safe, with a doctor, and he told me she'd be fine."  
  
"But you do not know for certain?" There were things that Riddick was not telling him, and he didn't like that. Not when it came to Jack's well being. Not when it came to his daughter's life.  
  
Riddick made himself meet the holy man's eyes. "No."  
  
Imam studied the man standing before him. There was something there, something in the silvered depths of Riddick's eyes, a pain that mirrored his own and something else. *There is much he is not saying.* And Imam understood. "You will go back to her, yes?" Riddick nodded, silently. "Take this to her from me," he took the prayer beads off his belt and pressed them into Riddick's hand. "She does not follow my faith, but it will remind her that I will always love her and I will always be here for her."  
  
Riddick was oddly touched by the gesture. Maybe things did happen for a reason. If not for the crash on the planet, Jack's life would have probably turned out much differently. He'd seen what happened to young runaways. She could have passed herself off for a boy for another year or two tops, after that. well, after that she would have probably ended up living a very hard, very short life being used and abused. She'd lived a good life with Imam. Riddick was sorry that she'd not have that anymore, but he was grateful she'd at least had it for a while. "Is there anything else?" he asked, tucking the beads into the pocket of his pants.  
  
"Yes, Mr. Riddick." Imam frowned at Riddick, looking him in the eye and laying a hand on the younger man's shoulder. "I know you care for Jacqueline, and I know she more than cares for you. Once you charged me to keep her safe and well, now I charge you with the same. Treat her as if she is a part of yourself."  
  
"She already is." Riddick didn't even realize the truth of it until he said it aloud. She was a part of him, maybe the best part. "And I promise to keep her as safe as I can. I would die for her if necessary."  
  
Imam was quiet for a moment, studying him before smiling slightly and moving away toward the door. "Yes. I believe you would." He stood there for a moment. "It is not safe for you here, Mr. Riddick. You should leave immediately."  
  
Nodding, Riddick stood up. "Just one thing." He gestured toward the myriad of stuffed animals on the bed. "Can you tell me which one of these damned bears is purple?" 


	31. Chapter 31 Uninvited Visitor

Chapter 31 - Uninvited Visitor  
  
Riddick left Imam's house with the holy man's prayer beads in his pocket and the key from the bear on its chain around his neck. The lock box was tucked safely into a duffel bag along with some of Jack's clothes and personal things and a small, brightly wrapped box that the holy man had asked him to deliver to Jack.  
  
"Her birthday is next month," Imam told him, "she was to come home," the older man sighed heavily. "Will I ever see her again, Mr. Riddick?"  
  
He hadn't been certain exactly what to tell the man. "If Jack has anything to say about it, you will."  
  
"Then I shall pray to see you both again soon."  
  
Assuring himself that no one was following him, Riddick found the small barn where he'd stashed the hovercycle. He strapped the duffel securely to the back of the hovercycle, he'd come all this way to get the stupid thing, he'd hate for it to drop off while he was doing 150kph. Making certain it was still safe, he moved the bike out onto the road and headed back to Celedon.  
  
He tried, on the long drive back, not to think too much about what he'd told Imam, that Jack was already a part of him, that he'd die for her. What did that mean, anyway? He wasn't sure he knew, or even that he wanted to know. It had just come out, it had just seemed.true. But if he thought about it, she'd been a part of him for a long time, hadn't she? And he now knew he would die for her, that surprised him a little. He'd very nearly died going back with Caroline to rescue Imam and Jack from that cave, but that hadn't been intentional. He wasn't suicidal, that had been just very bad luck, but he knew now that he would willingly sacrifice himself for her if he had to. That was an interesting development.  
  
For weeks Riddick had been struggling with how he felt about Jack. He was having a very hard time getting past the guilt of sleeping with her. There shouldn't be guilt. Sex was a nice, simple pleasure enjoyed by two consenting adults. You had fun together, no strings attached, then you went your separate ways. He liked it that way. Clean, simple. But things just weren't that simple with Jack. God knew she was a beautiful, sexy woman and she'd wanted him every bit as much as he'd wanted her, and they'd certainly had fun together. She wasn't some virginal schoolgirl acting out some sort of fantasy that he'd taken advantage of. She was a mature, experienced woman who knew exactly what she had been doing. But would he ever really be able to see her that way? Would she always be 'his little Jack'? And would he ever not feel like he'd somehow betrayed her trust? There was only one way he was ever going to find out.  
  
Riddick arrived back in Celedon just a bit before dawn. He returned the hovercycle to the rental agency and, hefting the duffel over his shoulder, headed back to the Bellerophon. His mind was on other things and, so, he didn't notice someone else in the ship until it was almost too late. The lights flared on and he instinctively dropped down into a crouch, narrowly avoiding being hit by pulse fire. Shielding his eyes against the unusually bright light, he ducked into an alcove, just as a pulse beam flashed past him. "FUCK!" Digging his dark sunglasses out of the pocket of his jacket, he slipped them into place and waited for his eyes to adjust.  
  
"Tsk, tsk, tsk." A man's voice echoed down the hallway. "I would have thought you would have been a little harder to catch, Riddick."  
  
He knew that voice, but where from? Then it hit him and his face twisted involuntarily into a snarl. Carson. His blood boiled with anger and hatred. "You don't have me yet." He quickly assessed his options, there weren't many. He was trapped in the main corridor between the flight deck and the cargo hold. Nothing on either side of the wide hall but instrumentation and storage and the airlock he'd just come through. But the airlock was up the corridor toward the flight deck, toward Carson, and the cargo hold was just too far down the corridor. He'd be an open target. "Lights off." Nothing happened.  
  
Carson laughed. "Do you think I'd leave the lights open to your voice command? How stupid do you think I am?"  
  
"Do you really want me to answer that?" Riddick needed to get down the corridor just a few feet. There was a manual override for the lights there. Carson fired and the panel next to Riddick's head exploded, sending shards of metal flying. One caught him in the face, ripping a small gash just under his jawline. An inch lower and it would have gotten him in the artery. *Shit!* "You'd better watch out. Wouldn't want you to lose out on half the bounty."  
  
"The way I see it, I'm doubling what I thought I was going to get." Carson's voice was indignant. "I was willing to settle for a quarter of the bounty before you killed Mikey, before you took off with AJ. Where is she?"  
  
*Before I killed him? Before I took off with her? This guy is completely cracked.* A crazy person with a gun, that was never good. "I had to take her somewhere to get patched up after you shot her and damn near killed her, you crazy son of a bitch." *And when I get my hands on you I'm going to enjoy making you suffer for it too, asshole.* If Carson wasn't worried about collecting the whole bounty, well, that wasn't a good thing. More often than not it was the bounty hunters' greed that kept them from killing him. Riddick need a plan and he needed it now.  
  
"I don't want to chit chat with you, Riddick. I want to know where AJ is and I want to know now." He shot again, this time a little lower than before.  
  
"Why should you care? You shot her!" Riddick could feel his anger growing and all he wanted to do was get his hands on Carson and show him the true meaning of pain. Riddick needed to get the lights out. Carson might have a gun, but this was Riddick's ship and he knew her inside and out. Even if his eyes weren't shined, he'd know her blindfolded. That gave him the advantage.  
  
"Why should I care? Because I love her." His voice was slow, deliberate, like he was speaking to a not so bright child. "I shot at her because I was trying to keep her from making the worst mistake of her life. Going off with you," he clarified.  
  
It pissed Riddick off to hear Carson spouting vows of love for Jack. *Like she'd be so much better off with a whack job like you?* He needed to buy time. "Maybe we can make a deal. I tell you where she is, you let me go." Picking up a shard of metal, he hefted it in his hand. If he was lucky, he could distract Carson long enough to get to the panel. A little insurance never hurt either. "If you kill me, you'll never find out where she is." *Not that you ever will anyway, fucker.*  
  
"Yeah." Carson laughed and it wasn't a pleasant sound. "I'll tell you what. You tell me where she is and I'll make it quick. I'll shoot you in the head instead of the stomach."  
  
*Oh, this kid has a lot of balls.* He could hear the steady foot falls as Carson made his way down the corridor from the flight deck. *Now or never.* Holding the piece of metal carefully, he timed his attack. Riddick waited until his pursuer should be right next to the airlock. Stepping out into the corridor, his hand flashed out, throwing the shard of metal like a throwing dagger. He didn't wait to find out if it had hit his target, even if it hadn't he knew the other man would have ducked into the airlock, giving him a few precious moments to make his way down the corridor to the manual override.  
  
It took Carson a few seconds to recover, he hadn't actually expected Riddick to throw something at him. Stepping out into the corridor, ready to shoot, he saw Riddick working over a panel. *What is he doing?* Taking aim, he shot the larger man in the shoulder. He didn't want to kill him, yet.  
  
The force of the blast knocked Riddick back, but he finished his computations and the ship went dark. Grabbing his shoulder, he crouched low as Carson shot wild. He could see him standing there in the dark, shooting blind, stumbling backward. A wiser man might have made his way to the hold, licked his wounds and waited for Carson to either leave or run out of ammo, but Riddick was too pissed off to be wise. This man had sicced a merc on him, shot Jack and nearly killed her, broken into his ship, and shot him. Wise wasn't figuring into it just then. Pulling his knife from his boot, Riddick surged up the corridor and tackled Carson.  
  
Carson felt the impact a second before he felt himself being rammed back against the bulkhead, seeing stars as his head contacted the hard metal. He tried to bring the gun up to bear, but Riddick's massive hand closed around his wrist and he could feel the gun slipping from his numbing fingers. Groping wildly with his other hand, he balled his fist and struck out, contacting flesh, but it seemed to do no good. He felt his face explode with pain as the blow was returned and he could feel blood coming out of his nose and sliding down his throat, causing him to choke. Then he felt the knife at his throat. "Why don't you just go ahead and kill me." He laughed, choking on his own blood, and feeling the uselessness of everything now. "It doesn't matter anyway. The authorities have been alerted, you won't make it off this planet."  
  
*FUCK!* One thing Riddick could usually count on with your garden variety merc was the greed that kept him from contacting local authorities. He just wasn't used to dealing with certifiable fruit loops. "Well, I've got a few tricks up my sleeve yet." Deciding he'd wait to kill Carson when he had time to enjoy it, he hit him once, twice more until he felt the younger man slump against the wall. Riddick took just enough time to drag Carson down to the cargo hold and do a quick weapons search before securely tying him up. If it was true that the authorities had been contacted, he needed to get off that rock. And fast. 


	32. Chapter 32 Post Haste

Chapter 32 - Post Haste  
  
Leaving the planet turned out to be a bit more difficult than Riddick had anticipated. Apparently Carson had enjoyed himself for a while before Riddick had gotten back to his ship. The main computer was almost completely closed out to him now, so that meant flight procedures would either have to be on manual or he'd have to wait until he could get in and fix what Carson had screwed up. Logically, if time permitted, it would be better to have complete control of the main computer before he tried to make it off planet since he wouldn't be able to do a jump until it was online. But, in the end, it was the local law that made the decision for him.  
  
Riddick heard someone outside the hatch a second before the computer alerted him to someone accessing his codes. *Well, at least that part works,* he thought sourly as he ran down the corridor to punch override codes directly into the airlock door's locking mechanism. It didn't take much thinking to figure out that Carson had transmitted the access codes to the local law enforcement, he just wondered what else the pain in the ass had done to fuck him over. Running back up to the flight deck, Riddick strapped himself in and hoped against hope that Carson hadn't had enough time to lock out the manual overrides on the power up and flight procedures.  
  
Reaching over his head, Riddick winced, his shoulder painfully reminding him that Carson had gotten a good shot off before the lights went out. Well, there wasn't a lot of blood and his arm was still functioning, so that was a good sign. Any other assessments would just have to wait until he got off the planet. Flipping the necessary switches, he locked in the manual overrides and held his breath while the old ship awakened. He let his breath out slowly as the flight deck flickered to life with small lights and beeps and the sounds that told Riddick he was still in business.  
  
The comm unit crackled to life. "Richard B. Riddick. This is Captain Paul Montgomery of the New Sydney Free Governmental Police. You are hereby ordered by Law 992. 184. NSFG4 to surrender yourself and your vehicle. Give yourself up quietly and no one has to get hurt."  
  
*Nobody has to get hurt? Oh, somebody's going to fuckin' get hurt, I guaran-damn-tee ya that!* And he knew just who it was going to be. Anger burned in his chest as he thought of Carson down in the hold. Toggling on the switch, a sarcastic smile curled the corners of his lips. "You don't want anybody to get hurt, I'd suggest moving the fuck away from my ship before I fire this bitch up."  
  
"Don't try it, son." Captain Montgomery's voice sounded almost apologetic. "My ships are already in orbit. You won't make it out of the sector alive."  
  
Throwing a few more switches, Riddick breathed a sigh of relief when the weapons system came online. The weapons on the old Zephyr were well hidden and, unless you were looking for them, you wouldn't even know they were there. That gave him a small advantage. Having to man the flight systems and the weapons at the same time wasn't going to be easy, especially with just one fully functioning arm, but it was certainly better than the alternative. He was just thankful that the all the manual overrides seemed to be working. Obviously Carson hadn't thought past keeping Riddick out of the main computer, and for that he was thoroughly grateful. One of the reasons Riddick had chosen to purchase the old ship was for the fact that the main computer didn't run everything. It could, if you wanted it to, but it didn't have to. And while it wasn't fun to have to fly the ship without the main computer, it could be done.  
  
His voice was low, deadly serious, when he spoke again. "Captain, unless you want to have to send condolence letters to the family of all those fighter pilots, you might want to think about keeping them the hell away from me and my ship." A flashing red light told him that the engines were ready to go. "Because I ain't got nothin' to lose, and if I have to go out I ain't goin' out alone." He shut down the comm and hit the button warning anyone within a hundred feet to get back to a safe distance. Waiting just long enough to give them a chance to get out of the way, he fired the engines and braced himself for takeoff.  
  
It was hard to keep the ship level while he was still in atmosphere, but once he was free of the planet's gravitational pull, the stick felt light as a feather. Truth was, he enjoyed flying on manual. It gave him the same feeling driving the hovercycle did, a sense of total freedom. That was worth a lot to a man who'd spent a good portion of his life restrained by one measure or another. Riddick didn't have long to enjoy the ride, though, before the fighter ships were bearing down on him. "Ok. Here we go."  
  
The Bellerophon didn't have the maneuverability that the smaller fighters had, but it had the advantage of a paranoid captain and a lot of shielding. In addition to the shielding, none of the crew areas or vital systems were housed next to the outer hull. That way, if there was a hull breach he could close off that area until he could get planetside to fix it. Riddick might not have been the best pilot or engineer in the galaxy, but there was something to be said for paranoia. It would just about take a direct hit to the flight deck to take the ship out, and if that happened, well he was fucked anyway. So he'd do whatever he could to make sure that didn't happen.  
  
Calling on all the training he'd received while he was with The Company, he banked starboard and caught one of the fighters in his ion wash. It wouldn't do anything to the other ship, but it would confuse his sensors for a while, and that would give Riddick enough time to come around for the attack. Bringing his weapons to bear, he targeted the engines and fired. "Bullseye." A smile spread over his face. The ship was dead in space, but, though it would have been easy, he didn't kill the pilot. The kid hadn't even gotten a shot off.  
  
Four more fighters came down on his position and the Bellerophon took some damage, but Riddick managed to take out the other ships with only two casualties. He figured that was pretty good considering the other pilots had been shooting to kill and when it came down to a me or thee situation, he knew who he was picking. Leaving New Sydney behind, Riddick manually plotted a course out of the system. He wouldn't be able to do a starjump until he could get the main computer back online, and he wouldn't be able to go back to D2 until he made sure he wasn't being followed. Who knew how long that was going to take? His thoughts drifted once again to Jack and he thought about what he'd said to Montgomery about having nothing to lose. Well, that wasn't entirely true. He just hoped she would understand that it was going to take a little longer than he'd planned to get back to her.  
  
***********************************************************************  
  
No sooner had Riddick gotten the main computer back online, than the warning system began to go off. Checking the view screen he saw there were two heavy A-class cruisers coming up his ass. Major firepower. "How the fuck did they find me so soon?" he asked aloud to no one in particular as he dropped back down into the pilot's seat. He'd only been orbiting the small moon for about three hours, just long enough to get the pulse wound cleaned and bandaged and get the computer up and running again. Either the people on those cruisers were very damned lucky, or, more likely, there was a homing device on the ship somewhere. It was possible that one of the fighters had managed to tag him with something, but those weren't as reliable as a homer planted inside a ship. Space debris or starjumps could tear off an external tag. But an internal one, well, that was another matter entirely.  
  
Strapping himself in once more, he pulled the ship away from the moon and started punching in coordinates. He hoped he'd be able to make a few more jumps before the cruisers followed, buy himself some time to find the device and neutralize it. The ship shuddered as it took a pulse blast from one of the ships and Riddick held tightly onto the flight stick. "Just hold together, baby, we're takin' the shortcut." Pressing the button that would take them into the starjump, Riddick closed his eyes and waited.  
  
Damaged and limping, the ship made the starjump and two others, but Riddick hesitated taking it through anymore. It would take some time now for the cruisers to pick up on the homing device's signature, hopefully long enough for him to get out of Carson where he'd planted it. It could be anywhere, and without knowing where to start looking it could take forever to find it. Riddick didn't have forever. The ship had taken some pretty bad damage and he needed to get her somewhere for repairs. He couldn't do that until he got that damned tag off his ship. Unstrapping himself, he set the ship for autopilot. It was time to go have a talk with Mr. Carson. 


	33. Chapter 33 Starlight Starbright

Chapter 33 - Starlight, Starbright  
  
Journal Entry - Thirtieth of June, Earth Year 3836  
  
My eyes are opened,  
And now I see.  
What I loved in you,  
Was only in me.  
  
Closing the cloth cover of the journal Amy had given her, Jack sighed heavily. It had been a long time since she'd written anything about Riddick in a journal, almost exactly a year. When she'd turned twenty-five, she'd decided that half her life day-dreaming about a man that she would most likely never see again was more than enough. It had been that day that she'd decided to send the box and everything in it back to Imam. Not that she hadn't still thought about Riddick, but as time wore on she didn't think about him every day. At least not until he showed back up in her life again.  
  
Jack sat on a large, flat, stone outcropping at the mouth of one of the many entrances to the underground city. Lying back, she pillowed her head on her arm. It was nice to look up at the stars again, even though they were all completely alien to her. The lack of any modern lights on the surface of the planet made the night sky all that much more crisp and clear. Not as clear as seeing them from space, but even so, stars just looked different through atmosphere. It was one of the things she'd missed most during her time on Orion Station. The house she shared with Imam in Wallaby Bay was well outside the city limits of Celedon and they had a spectacular view of the night sky, even if the stars weren't as bright as D2. She could remember lying in the garden behind her home with Imam and searching the stars, wondering which one of the many systems Riddick was traveling through right then. Ironic that now, millions of miles away from her home and searching an alien sky, she was still searching for the same answer.  
  
"Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight." Jack laughed at herself as she recited the silly poem her Grandmother had taught her. She hadn't wished on the stars in a long, long time.   
  
"You know, that sky doesn't change much, no matter how long you look at it." Doc's voice had startled her, and she winced as she quickly sat up. Doc frowned. "I didn't mean to scare you, sweetheart."  
  
Jack smiled, sheepishly, rubbing absently at the scar just below her belly button. Sometimes if she moved wrong or pulled it, it still gave her a little pain. "It's not you, I just didn't expect anyone." In fact, everyone she knew right now was at a party at Akemi's house, and that's where she was supposed to be.  
  
"Akemi sent me to look for you." Doc sat down next to her on the outcropping, letting his legs dangle over the side, his boots scraping in the dirt. "It's usually considered bad form to leave your own birthday party." A half smile turned up the corner of his mouth. "No one can eat cake until you blow out the candles."  
  
Scooting over, Jack settled next to his side and laid her head on Doc's shoulder as his arm came around her back in a half hug. "I'm sorry, Doc. I just needed to be alone for a few minutes." The party had been a surprise from Akemi and Sloane. Jack had always had an easy time making friends and she had become close to the other hackers in the short seven weeks since Doc had introduced her to them. But just then she had wanted to be by herself. She knew, now, that Riddick wasn't coming back. It really didn't take a genius to figure that one out, but she'd still held out hope. And even though her mind knew it, the romantic dreamer inside her had hoped that she might get a special birthday present, or a granted wish. "The sky here is so beautiful. I'm going to miss it."  
  
Doc sighed. "So you're leaving then?"  
  
Jack was quiet for a moment before answering. "Yeah. I'd like to do something for D2, and all my friends here."  
  
"Being a Hunter/Gatherer is dangerous, Jackie." He knew it was useless to talk her out of something once she set her mind to it, but he had to try. He and Amy had never had children of their own, and they'd grown quite fond of her. "You know we need engineers here on planet too."   
  
"I know that, Doc, but I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself." Irritation flared under the surface, but it was hard to stay mad at Doc. Riddick on the other hand, well, she was becoming an expert at staying pissed at him. "And there's Corbett and Deni to take care of stuff here on planet, so I'm going to join the HGs and maybe I can do something actually useful with the skills I have."  
  
He waited half a minute before pressing on. "And you know I promised Rick I'd keep you safe."  
  
"If Riddick gave so much as half a shit about me he wouldn't keep leaving me with people to keep me 'safe' like some lost puppy left at a pound." She pulled away from Doc's comforting embrace. "And I think that's how Riddick sees me, too. Just some stray he picked up. He doesn't feel right leaving me to fend for myself, but he doesn't want to have to feed me either." She looked back at Doc, weariness older than her twenty-six years evident in her eyes. "I'm tired of being left at the pound, Doc."  
  
"You know. Rick was here about eight years ago, it was an accident that he came here but I think maybe there are reasons for everything. He was pretty banged up, and I fixed him up again, but during the short time he was here we talked, actually talked about things. I could tell something was different about him."  
  
"Riddick actually 'talked'?" She snorted. "I'd have to see that to believe it."  
  
"Yeah, he did. He told me about the crash of the Hunter-Gratzner, about the planet and the other survivors. About you." He watched her, to see her reaction.  
  
"He told you about me?" her voice was quiet. "What did he say?"  
  
Doc smiled. He knew he had her attention now. "Lots of things. You impressed him, which is quite a feat because not many people do."  
  
"I impressed him?" She could feel the anger that had been building over the last eight weeks slipping away, but she tried to hold onto it. She needed it. It was all she had. "I was twelve, how impressed could he have been?"  
  
"You'd be surprised."  
  
*Really?* "Tell me."  
  
"He couldn't get over the fact that you were never afraid of him. And that you looked up to him, like a hero." Doc smiled as he remembered what Riddick had told him. 'And the little shit had the nerve to shave her head to look like me. Didn't care what anyone else thought about it either.' "He thought you were strong, and brave."  
  
"He said that?" There was wonder in her voice. "About me?"  
  
"Even then I could tell that he cared a lot about you." Doc put his arm around her again. "I think you managed to open a window in his heart and you crawled inside it and made a home there."  
  
Jack sighed, running her fingers through her hair as the breeze blew long tendrils about her face. "But if he 'cares' so much about me, then why the hell does he keep leaving me?"  
  
Doc shook his head, it was hard to make someone like Jack see the kind of logic that Riddick was working with. "Because he cares about you, honey. He's an escaped convict with bounty hunters and mercs on his ass all the time. He can't piss without looking over his shoulder. He wanted you to have a good life and a chance to be a kid."  
  
"Yeah, I know. He gave me that speech. I understand why he left me with Imam before." *But this time was different.* There was hurt in her voice as she allowed herself to remember their time together on Orion Station. The kiss in her apartment, the afternoon he'd made love to her. She'd never been happier at any time in her life than lying in his arms and falling asleep. She'd thought in those few stolen moments that there had been something, that she'd seen some actual emotion flickering through those mercury eyes of his, but then he'd shut her out again. And then he'd left her on D2. "And I understand why he left this time, but why hasn't he come back?"  
  
"Maybe he can't yet, but he will." Doc believed in his heart that if there were any way possible, Riddick would be back.  
  
"I just don't understand him, Doc." She chewed on the inside of her lip as she thought about how much she should tell him, he probably didn't want to know the details any more than she wanted to tell them. "I told him I loved him and for about a minute, I thought he felt something for me. But I'm not so sure now."  
  
Being a doctor, Doc was a good student of human behavior. Unless he missed his guess, his boy was feeling quite a bit for Jack, feeling things that scared the hell out of him. It didn't take a genius to figure out there was more there than just an overprotective streak on Riddick's part, but that was something he'd have to figure out for himself. Doc hugged Jack. "Baby girl, just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to, or expect they should, it doesn't mean they don't love you with all they've got."  
  
"And what if that's not enough?" She held tightly to Doc.  
  
"That's going to be something you're going to have to decide," he told her quietly, hoping she'd make the right decision. He held her for a while, not saying anything, because he sensed she needed it. Finally, he pulled away from her, hooking his knuckle under her chin to make her look at him. "Now, why don't we go back and eat some of that birthday cake. You look like you need some." He smiled down at her. "Doctor's orders." 


	34. Chapter 34 Back From The Wars

Chapter 34 - Back From The Wars  
  
Riddick was tired, hungry, hurt, and pissed off. Not a good combination, but there wasn't a whole hell of a lot to be done about it so no use dwelling on it. He'd been gone from D2 for 8 weeks, about a month longer than he'd had any intention of being gone, and all because of that prick, Carson Davis. His hands clenched involuntarily on the flightstick of his ship, and he almost wished it was the bastard's neck. He'd killed him once for nearly killing Jack and he wished he could kill the whackjob again for messing with his ship. If it hadn't been for Carson, Riddick would have been back to D2, back to Jack, ages ago. If he was truthful, though, Riddick's own need for revenge - vengeance, justice for Jack, whatever you wanted to call it - had played a part in his undoing.  
  
After he'd manage to elude the A-class Cruisers, he'd gone down into the hold to make Carson tell him where he'd hidden the tracker. He knew any hope of him finding it quickly was next to impossible, especially with the computer screwed up, only able to do the most basic functions. *At least it can calculate starjumps,* he thought sourly. He had every intention when he'd gone down that ramp in making Carson tell him where the tracker was and then leaving him there to finish off later. Let Carson go through the same 3 days of hell the man had put himself and Jack through before he finally finished him off. But when he'd gotten down there, the smug look on the son of a bitch's face just made something click in Riddick's head. All he could see was red, Jack's blood, so much blood, all over him, staining his sheets. He saw her pale and drawn face as he left her in Doc's surgery. He saw her lying in the hospital bed with tubes and monitors all over the place, and he just snapped. Not even bothering with a knife or gun, he'd hit Carson and it felt so good that he'd kept hitting him.  
  
Riddick had no idea how many times he hit Carson, but by the time he realized what he was doing, made himself stop, his knuckles were bloody and aching like someone had taken a ball peen hammer to his hand, and Carson's face was almost indistinguishable as human. When he pulled himself away, he was shaking with the anger and hatred he still held inside him, but there was something else too. Disgust. He'd done a lot of crazy shit, a lot of stupid shit, a lot of bad shit in his life that even he didn't want to think about, but of all the people he'd killed in his life (and there'd been more than a few) he'd never beaten anyone to death. Not even in slam when he was fighting for his life every day. He'd always gone for the quick kill, not necessarily clean, but quick. Sure, he'd played with some of his opponents, done his share of knife dances with people, and he'd strong-armed people for various reasons, but he'd never beaten an unarmed, restrained person before. That level of brutality he'd always figured was reserved for prison guards and sadistic bounty hunters. He didn't like being wrong, especially about himself.  
  
Walking away from the bloody corpse, Riddick climbed the long, curving ramp that would take him up to the crew deck. He washed up quickly in the sink in his bathroom then found the first aid kit he'd used for Jack. As he poured antiseptic over the hand and wrapped it with some sterile bandages, his thoughts drifted to Jack. He thought of her lying on his bed, hovering in and out of consciousness. He thought of the sleepless nights he'd spent on the floor, hoping she'd make it through the three-day trip to D2. He thought of holding her in the shower, listening to her talk like she was certain she was going to die, and any remorse he might have felt faded. It wasn't like he hadn't planned on killing the man anyway, he'd just thought to do it with a little more finesse. But when it came down to it, Carson had hurt someone Riddick cared for, one of the few people he could call a friend. When you didn't have a lot of friends you tended to get kind of protective of the ones you had. Carson had gotten better than he deserved.  
  
When Riddick had finally gone back down to the cargo hold, he dispassionately disposed of the body and cleaned up the bloody mess left behind without allowing himself another thought that the body had once been a living, breathing human. He disassociated himself from the situation, something he'd learned to do a long time ago. Reducing the act of life and death to problems and solutions made things simpler, cleaner. That was one problem dealt with, he'd just have to figure out the other one, the location of the tracker beacon, on his own.  
  
He started on the search for the tracking beacon, but there was a lot of ship to cover and it could be anywhere. If he'd had the computer functioning at its peak capacity, he could have narrowed the search down a lot, but Carson had known what he was doing when he'd disabled it. It had taken Riddick three weeks to finally locate the tracking beacon, but during his search he'd found the two bags Jack had packed. He wondered how she could have possibly gotten them onto the ship and hidden them, but that was just another of Jack's qualities he admired, her resourcefulness.  
  
Between running from his pursuers and searching the ship for the tracker, Riddick hadn't had much time for sleeping and it was starting to show. Closest thing to sleep he'd had in a while had been the catnaps he took in the pilot's chair. After the three weeks spent searching for the tracker, it had taken him another week before he felt like he could breathe again. He wanted to turn back and head to D2 right then, but he knew he had to be more careful than that. He didn't think he was being pursued anymore, but you could never be too careful. It had taken another two weeks before he felt like it was safe to turn his ship toward the Areiadne Sector.  
  
His ship. She didn't even have a name anymore, he'd not bothered, having to change the codes almost every fucking day since he'd left New Sydney. He knew it wasn't necessary for her to have a name, but he didn't like it. A ship not having a name was considered very bad luck, had been considered so all the way back to the first seafaring mariners of Old Earth. Riddick wasn't particularly superstitious, he liked black cats and generally didn't give a shit if he walked under a ladder or broke a mirror, but his ship was a little different. He figured she had been a good ship and she deserved a name, plus he didn't need his luck to get any worse. Soon as they were ready to leave, he'd rename her.  
  
Rolling his head from side to side, he rubbed his tired eyes and took another drink of the extra sweet coffee. At least he had coffee and sugar on the ship. That was something he could be thankful for since he hadn't had time or money to take on supplies in the last six weeks. He supposed he should be thankful he still had anything at all, but living on a diet of sugar and caffeine mixed with peanut butter and crackers had made him a little cranky. He was ready for some real food, any kind of real food, even if it was vegetarian. As soon as he and Jack were safe to leave the planet, he'd take her somewhere and buy them both the biggest steak he could find. He just needed to get somewhere to access one of his accounts and get some more cash to float him for a while.  
  
One thing he did have to be thankful for, he'd been able to get enough fuel to get him back to where he needed to be. He could just as easily have been dead in space without fuel, but he'd been lucky and had found a few backwater planets where he could fuel up without being too suspicious, not that he could remember where any of them were. He couldn't even remember how many sectors he'd been through in the last month and a half, but at least the computer was working well enough to keep track of them so he wouldn't go back anytime soon.  
  
Thinking of the computer sent another surge of bitter anger through Riddick. Carson had fucked with his ship's computer. That was in and of itself a crime punishable by death by Riddick's standards. He didn't have much in the way of possessions but, like his friends, he was very protective of what few he had. The ship was going to need a pretty good going over and some repairs after the shit she'd been put through, and the computer was going to have to be completely overhauled. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he remembered Jack giving him arguments as to why he should take her along with him. "I'm a pretty good engineer, and I'm a pretty good hacker," she'd told him. He hoped that was true, because he was going to need both.  
  
Funny how there was no longer a doubt in his mind that Jack should be with him. He wasn't exactly sure when he stopped thinking in terms of "I" and started thinking in terms of "We", but somewhere along the way it had become a foregone conclusion that Jack would come with him. He still wasn't sure precisely what it was that he felt for Jack or what they would do once they left D2, but he knew that she belonged with him and he wanted her there. Provided that's still where she wanted to be.  
  
Breathing a heavy sigh of relief as he slipped into orbit around D2, Riddick ran his hands vigorously over his face and scalp, the stubble reminding him it had been a while since he'd bothered shaving. There had been times in the last month or so when he hadn't been sure he'd ever see the lush, green planet again. He couldn't remember ever being so glad to see a planet in his life; usually he preferred space, but it was certainly a sight for sore eyes. Toggling on the comm, he hailed Doc and waited for an answer.  
  
"Rick?" there was a mixture of relief and annoyance in the older man's voice. "Well, it's about damn time you came back. You better hurry up and get your ass down here, only two more hours before dawn."  
  
Riddick didn't know whether to laugh or frown at the order. "Yes, sir!" If Doc had been standing there, he would have snapped a salute, if he could remember how. "I'll be landing in fifteen minutes. You going to be anywhere near the landing site so I can hitch a ride?"  
  
"I'll be there with bells on." There was definitely laughter in Doc's voice that time.  
  
Fifteen minutes later, Doc was waiting beside his jeep at the landing site as Riddick descended the ramp from the cargo hold, a blast from one of the A-class cruisers that had been pursuing him had rendered the airlock unusable until Riddick could get someone to repair it. The bag he'd brought from Imam's was slung over his shoulder, a little heavier than before with the addition of some of his own things. He hadn't bothered getting cleaned up on the ship since he'd had to abandon his water shower for the sonic one in what used to be the crew quarters when the water reserve on the ship had gotten too low. Thoughts of the hot shower awaiting him at Doc's house were enough to make him forget the growling in his stomach at the thought of real food.  
  
Doc looked him up and down. "Boy, you look like shit. Like you just got back from the wars. What have you been up to?"  
  
A wry smile touched Riddick's lips as he shook Doc's hand. "Don't ask." He had hoped that Jack would come with Doc. When he hadn't seen her in the Jeep, his stomach had done a flip that had nothing to do with hunger. "Where's Jack?" he almost didn't want to know the answer, especially when he saw the look of indecision cross Doc's face. "She's ok, isn't she?"  
  
"Oh yeah, yeah," Doc assured him immediately. He wasn't sure how much he should tell Riddick about Jack's plans to join the HGs. "She's with Sloane and Akemi right now, a couple hackers about her age. She's been staying with them for a while." Climbing into the driver's side, he waited until Riddick had settled into the passenger's seat then took off. They definitely didn't want to get caught aboveground after the sun started rising. They'd be ok for a little bit after dawn, but it didn't take long for the radiation to build up to fatal levels. "They're all with Trevor right now," he might as well tell him, he'd find out soon enough anyway, "talking about the next mission."  
  
"Next mission?" Riddick had no idea what Doc was talking about, but it didn't sound good. And since Jack was involved, he was going with his gut on this one. "What are you talking about?"  
  
"Jack's got some fool notion in her head that she needs to pay everyone here on D2 back for taking her in and being so nice to her after," he'd almost said 'after you left her here' but he caught himself in time, Riddick was going to have enough of that coming from Jack and Amy, the boy didn't need him giving him a hard time over his long absence as well, "after she started recovering." Despite the seriousness of the situation, a small smile played over his lips. "I tried to tell her they just did it because they were scared spitless of you, but she didn't buy it." He shrugged and his face became once again serious. "So now she's decided to join the HGs."  
  
"HGs?" He knew about the hunter-gatherers, the people who 'acquired' what the secret community needed, not the safest job around. *Has she just got some danger quotient she's trying to fill or something?* "Where did you say she was now?"  
  
Doc shrugged. "She's been staying with Akemi and Sloane, so she's either at Trevor's or at their place."  
  
"Ok. Take me to Trevor's." It wasn't a request. "If she's not there we'll try the other place."  
  
Doc risked looking over at him while they were driving down the long tunnel. He'd driven the narrow road so many times he could do it in his sleep. "You think that's a good idea right now?"  
  
Riddick looked over at him and frowned. "Yeah. Why?"  
  
Doc frowned back. "I take it you're wanting to talk Jackie into not going with the HGs?" He didn't wait for Riddick to answer. "Well, right now, with the way you look and smell, you're not going to make the best argument for staying here or going with you." The Jeep bumped sharply over a large rock and Doc noticed the slight grimace on Riddick's face and, slipping into 'doctor mode' wondered how badly the boy was injured. "Not like she's going to be going anywhere now, sun's going to be up in a bit. And you look like you could do with a shower, some rest, and a hot meal before you try to convince anyone of anything, let alone someone as stubborn as Jackie."  
  
A smile curved up the corners of Riddick's lips. Jack certainly was stubborn, about as stubborn as they came. Catching a glimpse of himself in the rearview mirror, Riddick's smile faded. He could see Doc's point. "Well, if she thinks I look bad, wait until she gets a look at the ship. She'll turn and run the other way for sure." 


	35. Chapter 35 Hello Again

Chapter 35 - Hello Again  
  
The house was dark when Riddick and Doc stopped the jeep and jumped out. The lighting units that spread artificial sunlight throughout the underground city had already darkened to the dim twilight that would mark the underground 'night'. It might seem strange on any other planet for the underground 'day' to run opposite the day on the surface, but on D2, where the daylight was lethal, it made perfect sense.  
  
Doc opened the door and ushered him through. "Come one, let's get you settled in, then I'm going to bed." He shot Riddick a mock scowl. "I'm old, and you're cutting into my beauty sleep."  
  
"Don't want to do that," Riddick joked, "you need all the beauty sleep you can get, old man."  
  
Snorting, Doc led him through the house to the back bedroom, the room Jack had occupied while she was there. "Go on, you know where everything is. Make yourself to home. If you want something to eat, there's some leftovers in the fridge." He turned to go into the room he shared with Amy, but stopped as his hand touched the knob. "Just fair warning, I thought you should know that it's pretty likely the weather around Amy will be a bit on the chilly side. Jackie," he knew it wasn't fair to make the boy feel guilty, but he also needed to know, "Jackie was pretty hurt when you didn't come back, very hurt, and Amy likes Jackie, so you do the math."  
  
A muscle in Riddick's jaw twitched, it wasn't his fucking fault that everything went to hell in a handbasket every time he turned around. Still, he was probably as angry with himself for hurting Jack as Amy was, so he'd take whatever she dished out. "I'll be sure to wear something warm."  
  
A rueful smile touched Doc's lips. "Probably not a bad idea." He eyed Riddick critically. "Get some rest, Rick. You're safe here."  
  
Riddick watched as Doc walked into his bedroom, closing the door behind him. Safe. He took a deep breath and tested the word in his mind, to see if he felt it. Strangely enough, he did, and it was a pretty nice feeling. Walking the few remaining feet to the guest bedroom, he walked inside and closed the door.  
  
The room was dark, of course, and there were no windows on the back side of the underground house as there was a sheer stone wall a few feet away, but it didn't matter to Riddick. He didn't even bother to turn on a small amount of light as he worked his way through the small room, dropping the bag at the end of the bed, and found the adjacent bathroom. Stripping quickly out of his clothes, he stepped into the shower stall and turned on the water as hot as he could stand it. God, but it felt good. Leaning his forearms against the side of the stall, he rested his head on the heels of his hands and let the water wash over him, let the heat work into the aching muscles and bones. He was almost too tired to move, to wash himself, but finally he sighed and pushed himself away from the wall, reaching for the liquid soap dispenser.  
  
As he slowly washed himself, he started thinking about Jack. What if she decided now that she wanted to stay here on D2? What if after she saw him again she still wanted to work with the HGs? It had never occurred to him that she might not still want him like she had before, he'd just been so intent on getting back to her. *Shit.* Well, worrying about something never did a damn bit of good, and he was too tired to worry about anything right now. Tomorrow, instead of worrying about it, he'd do something about it. Rinsing himself off under the rapidly cooling spray, he let his mind shut down. He needed rest, needed sleep. Shutting off the shower, he quickly dried himself off and, not bothering to dress, flopped down onto the bed. He was asleep almost before his head hit the pillow.  
  
*****************************************************************  
  
Jack woke up early, before Akemi and Slone were even settling into a good sleep. She knew after they'd left Trevor's that Akemi and Slone had stayed up much later than she had. As soon as the trio had gotten back to the small house they were sharing, though, Jack had taken herself off to bed. She'd heard them, of course, so sleep hadn't come as easily as she might have hoped. It wasn't easy having to listen to your friends making love in the next room at the best of times, it was worse when you were thinking of someone else and wishing he were there with you.  
  
Making sure she didn't disturb her friends, she showered and dressed quickly and left the house. It wasn't a far to Doc and Amy's place, so she decided to forego the scooter and walk. Hardly anyone was awake yet, it was hours until sunset topside, until the artificial sunlight would start to mark the beginning of the underground 'day'. It was nice to have the time alone to think.  
  
She'd thought a lot about what Doc had said. Did she really want to give up on Riddick? Hell, she'd loved him for the better portion of her life, even if she hadn't really known what it was to love him until two months ago. Truth was, if Riddick were to come back today and ask her to go with him, pissed or not she wouldn't worry about whether he was going to drop her off at the next planet, she would just want to be with him. She hated herself for that. Unconditional love. What was she, a puppy? But try as she might, she knew she'd be lying to herself if she tried to convince herself she could just stop loving him. She could live without him, she would, and she wouldn't pause her life in the hope that he might return any more than she had the first time around. It wasn't like she couldn't survive without him, it would just hurt to have to. Looking up, she realized she was there. She didn't want to wake Doc and Amy up, so she opened the door as quietly as she could and let herself in, closing the door behind her.  
  
*********************************************************  
  
He was awake and staring into the darkness, listening. Riddick had no idea how long he had been asleep, but when he'd heard the front door open and shut quietly, he had been wide awake. Rolling off the bed, he dropped into a low crouch and made his way to the end of the bed, grabbing his pants and pulling them on. He found knife hidden in his boot, and the well-oiled blade made a slight hissing sound against the leather as he slid the knife out of the sheath. The weight of it felt good in his hand. Leaning his back against the wall beside the door, he waited, ready to strike.  
  
*********************************************************  
  
Jack had moved in with Akemi and Slone about a month earlier, but there were still a few of 'her' things at Doc's place. Nothing on D2 was actually her's but they were things people had given her and she'd need them when they left the planet, she didn't know how long they'd be gone before it would be safe to return. Doing her best not to wake Doc or Amy, she tiptoed quietly along the corridor and went to her room. She opened the door and walked inside. She had just opened her mouth to turn the lights on when a strong hand clamped over her mouth, a large arm pulling her back against a massive chest. Her first reaction, of course, was to struggle, but when she felt the chuckle reverberating through the chest, through her back, she knew immediately who it was. A shiver ran through her that had absolutely nothing to do with fear.  
  
As soon as she'd opened the door and stepped inside, Riddick had known who it was. Laying the knife on the small chest of drawers beside him, he had been unable to resist the urge to replay the scene from the warehouse that first night. He smiled as he stepped up behind her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her against him. When she had finally stopped struggling, he knew she knew who he was. Still smiling, he brushed his lips over the shell of her ear. "Surprise."  
  
Caught between desire and anger, Jack tried very hard to hold onto the anger, though she could feel it slipping away. Well, she wasn't going to give in that easily, not after he'd been gone for two months. Not until he answered some questions. Baring her teeth, she bit, not delicately, the soft flesh of his hand.  
  
"Ouch! Shit, Jack." He released her mouth, but kept his other arm wrapped around her waist. "Why the hell did you bite me?"  
  
She liked the surge of satisfaction that went through her, childish though it might have been. "Because you had your hand somewhere it shouldn't have been." 


	36. Chapter 36 Rough Reunion

Chapter 36 - Rough Reunion  
  
Riddick loosened his hold on her waist, though he didn't let her go. Looked like Amy wasn't the only one pissed at him. "I'll have to remember to keep any of my important body parts to myself then." There was a smile in his voice, though he knew she couldn't see him. He knew he was dancing with danger to keep holding her like that when she was obviously not ready to kiss and make up, but he liked the feel of her. The smell of her filled his senses and he wanted to bury his face in her hair. He indulged himself by brushing his cheek lightly over her hair.  
  
Jack willed herself to be strong, it'd be just too easy to give in and pretend like two months hadn't passed. Like he hadn't pushed her away on the station then just left her here to rot. Pulling out of his grasp, she turned and faced him, even though she could see only a bare outline of him in the dim light from the hall "Why'd you bother coming back?" She was half afraid of the answer.  
  
The coldness in her voice shook him, he hadn't expected that. Heat and anger and probably resentment, but not the detached coldness he heard. *How can she ask me that?* His voice was flat, hard when he answered. "I always repay my debts."  
  
So it didn't have anything to do with his caring about her, she was just a debt to be repaid. That knowledge hurt. She wouldn't cry though, she'd already shed enough tears. "You don't owe me anything. The way I look at it, we're even. You saved my life, I saved yours. Even."  
  
Riddick stood there and looked at her through the darkness. She was so strong, he didn't imagine she had any clue as to how strong she really was. "No. We're not anywhere close to even." *You can't even imagine how far from even we are.*  
  
She raised an eyebrow at that. "Well, granted, you saved me twice and I only saved you once, but I figured I should get points for hospital time."  
  
Wincing inwardly at her remark, he just shook his head. "There's no way we'll ever be even, Jack. The big difference between you saving me and me saving you is that when I did it, I didn't have anything to lose. You lost everything. I can't ever pay you back for that, I wouldn't even know where to start." This reunion just wasn't going as well as he had hoped. He raised his hand to her cheek, caressing it with his palm, pleased that she pressed against it before she knew what she was doing. He was glad to know that there were still feelings there.  
  
Suddenly realizing what she was doing, Jack took a step away from him, pushing away the emotions and desires he stirred within her. She was ready and spoiling for a fight. All the anger and hurt and worry she'd had over the last two months were back in full force and she wanted to let loose on the source, Riddick. "Goddamnit, Riddick. Where the hell have you been for the last two months?" she hissed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Lights, twenty-five percent." She wanted to be able to see his face when he answered the question.  
  
But as soon as the lights came up, she saw the dark red crease of a pulse blast that had not healed yet over his left shoulder, the healing bruises on his face and ribs from crashing into the bulkhead and the flight controls respectively while being bombarded with blasts from the A-class cruisers, and the other cuts and burns over his forearms where he'd worked as hard as he could to hold his ship together as he tried to get back to D2. For a moment, she was shocked into speechlessness. He looked like he'd been to hell and back. Her heart twisted, and she wanted to cry for him. "Jesus H., Riddick, what happened to you?" Then she saw the familiar card key hanging around his neck and realization dawned on her face. "You went to my house?" Stepping forward, she touched the key with her fingertips, lightly caressing Riddick's chest in the process. "You got my lock box?" the surprise evident in her voice as she looked up into his eyes. "But why? How? Did you look in it? And what happened to you? What took you so long?" She waited a second, but he didn't answer. "Well?"  
  
A small smile touched the corner of his mouth. "I was just making sure you were done. Do you want your answers in chronological order or in order of the questions?"  
  
Frowning, she gripped the key on its chain and yanked gently. "I was worried about you, and hurt, and lost, and I didn't know if you were coming back. Why the hell didn't you just wait until I woke up and tell me you were going to try to go to New Sydney?"  
  
The smile faded. *Because if I'd waited, you would have come with me. Whether you were physically able to or not.* It suddenly pissed him off that she hadn't trusted him enough to believe he'd be back, but what did he really expect? It wasn't like he'd really proven himself overly trustworthy in that department. Still, now it was different. He'd come through hell to get back to her, couldn't she see that? "I don't have to justify where I go or when to you or anyone else, Jack. Doc told you I'd be back, if you didn't trust me to keep my word, that's not really my problem." Slipping the chain off his neck, he grabbed her hand and dropped the key into it. "There you go. I just got the shit knocked out of me and my ship running this little errand for you so I hope whatever's in that fucking box was worth it." Stepping around her, he strode across the room, dropping down onto the bed and pulling the sheet up over him. "Your precious box is in the bag at the end of the bed with some of your other stuff." He waited a heartbeat. "You're welcome." Folding his hands behind his head, he closed his eyes. "Turn off the lights when you're done. I'm tired, I'm going back to sleep." Even with his eyes closed, he was acutely aware of Jack standing in the room with him.  
  
Jack stood there for a moment, staring at him as he lay back as if to go back to sleep. She didn't really know what to say. Thanks? Welcome back? She looked at him and studied him. There were dark circles under his eyes and even with his eyes closed, he looked tired. He'd been beaten up, his ship had apparently taken a beating too, and all so he could bring this box to her. A mission he'd thought foolhardy and useless, but he'd done it because he had promised her he would. Because he cared about her. And he didn't even know what was in the box that he'd risked his life for. "Don't you want to see inside it?" she asked softly.  
  
"No," he grumbled, though he actually would love to see what was worth all the shit he'd gone through. He wasn't about to let her know that. "I want to sleep."  
  
"Not even a peek?" Sliding over to the side of the bed, she dangled the key an inch above his nose. "It was always meant to go to you, anyway."  
  
*Really?* Ok, now he was intrigued. *Shit.* "You don't have to give me anything, Jack." He said quietly, looking up at her. She was so beautiful standing there, her long hair hanging down like a curtain, throwing one side of her face into shadow. His fingers itched to reach up and thread through its silky lengths. *What would she do if I grabbed her and showed her what I'd really like her to give me?* he wondered idly.  
  
Her breath caught in her throat at the look in his eyes. She swallowed hard and cleared her throat. "Fine then, I'll just keep it for myself."  
  
"You aren't going to leave me alone until I look in that fucking box, are you?" he growled.  
  
She didn't even see his hand as it snaked out and snatched the key from her fingers. He was up and off the bed before she could make a grab for the key. "HEY! Give that back."  
  
A look of complete seriousness on his face, he dangled it from his fingers and held it over her head, just out of her reach. "You said it was supposed to be mine anyway. What are you now? An Indian giver?"  
  
Giving up trying to take the key, she crossed her arms over her chest. "Fine. You don't know the code so the key won't do you much good anyway."  
  
He shrugged slightly. "I can break the code."  
  
She smiled sweetly at him. "But that would take a long time. It'd be easier if you just let me open the box."  
  
Sitting down on the end of the bed, he pulled the box out of the bag and sat it on the floor, then proceeded to pull his pulse pistol out of the holster hanging on the end of the bed. "Actually, this is a lot easier than the key or the code." He pointed the gun at the locking mechanism.  
  
"Riddick! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Laying her hand on his arm, she pushed the gun away. "That would ruin everything in the box."  
  
He looked up at her, cocking an eyebrow. "But it would get it open, wouldn't it?"  
  
Mimicking his expression, she held her hand out. "Just give me the damn key and I'll open it."  
  
After a moment, he dropped the key in her hand then crossed his arms over his chest. "Ok, so open it."  
  
Dropping gracefully to the floor, she sat Indian style in front of the box. Fitting the tiny card key into the slot, she punched in the code, smiling when she heard the locks disengage. "Now for the moment we've all been waiting for," she said with a small smile on her face. The smile faded when she looked up at Riddick who was studying her through tired, silver eyes. "What?"  
  
"I'm sorry it took so long to get back, Jack."  
  
Nothing could have melted her as quickly as the softly spoken words of apology. "I'm not going to pretend that it's all ok, because it isn't." She felt her throat swell with tears that she refused to shed. "I wish you hadn't left. Not just because I would have wanted to go with you, but because I needed you here." She pushed the tears away, clearing her throat. "And I think it was cowardly of you to just up and leave like that before I even woke up."  
  
His mercury eyes darkened, no one called him a coward. "All I can do is say I'm sorry, Jack. I can't go back and change the past."  
  
"I'm not asking you to, Riddick," she said quietly.  
  
"What are you asking, then?" Did things always have to be this complicated? "What do you want, Jack?"  
  
She shrugged. "I don't know." She looked him in the eye. "What do you want, Riddick?"  
  
He answered before he even had a chance to think about it. "I'm not sure."  
  
"I guess that puts us on even footing."  
  
She smiled, the first real smile he'd seen in what felt like ages. It felt good to see her like that. But for some reason he didn't feel on very even footing. In fact he felt like he was standing in the middle of a vortex, like he'd lost control over his own life. It was a feeling both uncomfortable and exhilarating. "So, are you going to show me what's in that box that I risked my life for?" She opened the box, revealing a pile of papers, journals, pictures. He grabbed a handful and flipped through them, a frown on his face. "I risked my life and my ship for a box of memorabilia about myself?" He looked at her like she was completely insane. "No offense, but this isn't exactly world shattering stuff." *And definitely not worth the hell I went through.*  
  
Jack gave him a long-suffering sigh, snatching the papers out of his hand. "This isn't the important stuff." Well, it was important to her, but that was just sentimental value. Reaching down into the box, she cleared out the papers leaving the box seemingly empty. Feeling along the edge, she pressed a combination of buttons and the bottom popped open, revealing a hidden compartment. She smiled widely as she pulled the false bottom out and sat it with the papers. The look on Riddick's face was priceless. "Well, what do you think?"  
  
"Jesus, Jack!" Riddick said as he picked up a handful of the credit chips. "Are these what I think they are?"  
  
"Hard currency chips," Jack said, with a hint of pride in her voice. "And they're all maxed out. Twenty-five thousand credits each."  
  
"Holy Mother of God," he said as he looked through the bottom of the box.  
  
"And here I thought you weren't a religious man," Jack joked, glad that she'd done something to surprise Riddick for once. 


	37. Chapter 37 Bonnie and Clyde Ride Again ...

Chapter 37 - Bonnie and Clyde Ride Again  
  
Riddick was beginning to think he'd have to re-evaluate his religious position as he counted the chips. Eleven total. *Eleven chips, twenty- five grand a piece, holy shit!* "There's two-hundred and seventy-five thousand credits in this box."  
  
"And there's at least that much more in a numbered account at ZurichBanc in Ballan City on Callais." She smiled proudly as she neatly stacked her Riddick memorabilia to the side.  
  
He was still trying to get his brain around the fact that Jack had been hiding almost three hundred thousand credits in a lock box under her bed, let alone having a numbered account somewhere. "A few hundred thousand more and you could pay my fucking bounty." It wasn't like he hadn't seen large amounts of money before, but how the hell had she gotten this much. He knew Imam wasn't rich and even if engineers were very well paid, she'd only been working for about six months. "Where the hell did you get all this money?"  
  
Jack chewed on her bottom lip, she had really hoped he wouldn't ask her that. "Don't ask."  
  
He looked up at her his eyes flashed silver in the low light of the room. "I am asking, Jack," he said, his voice deceptively low and calm, "where'd you get the money."  
  
*Ok, so I'm a thief. He's a killer, he should cut me some slack.* Besides, she'd never used any of the money for herself. Until she'd given Alejandro that chip, none of the stolen money had been used for anything. She'd taken it in the hopes that one day she'd be able to help him with it. It was never about her own greed. "I stole it from The Company."  
  
"Holy fucking shit, Jack," he said, blowing out a breath. "Do you just have a death wish or something?"  
  
Now she could feel her temper rising to the surface again. "Look, you don't have to take any of the money if you don't want it. I'd thought maybe one day I could use it to get your name cleared. I just figured you could treat it like back pay, they deserved to pay for taking your life away." That was how she'd always justified stealing the money, it sounded good at least.  
  
He could see she was getting pissed and smiled, which made her feathers ruffle that much more. He couldn't help it, every time she stood up to him she just reminded him of a kitten growling at a big bad tom-cat, not really smart but kinda cute. "That's more than five hundred thousand credits. Lieutenants don't get paid that much."  
  
And with the smile he totally diffused the good mad she had going, damn him. "Hazard pay?" she said, a crooked smile on her face. "Well, it's been twenty years, Riddick, that's only twenty-five thousand, give or take, per year." She shrugged. "That isn't that much compared to what they've taken from you."  
  
"Hmmm," he answered non-committally. "You still didn't tell me how you managed to take this much money from The Company. They're not exactly easy to get stuff over on." The thought didn't escape him that maybe they'd let her take the money in hopes that it might lead them to him one day.  
  
She saw the look of concern on his face. "It's not like I went in and screwed with their accounts or anything. I can't see how they could even trace me." She went on to explain how she'd been able to filter off that much money. "Well, you know I like hacking, and I told you about that rebellious youth thing. It was part of that. One night me and a couple of friends were just hanging out, seeing how far we could hack into this wicked hard security system we'd found. We didn't know what it was, we just knew we wanted to get into it. Well, after a while, we found out it was a financing operation for some kind of geological survey or something. Anyway, I found a virus. It shouldn't have been detectable or anything, but I liked looking for viruses." She stopped for a moment and licked her lips.  
  
Jack remembered nearly being expelled from school for infecting every computer in the school system with a virus that turned all the grades into smiley faces. It wasn't an irreversible virus, and that was the only thing that kept her from getting sent off to boarding school somewhere. Even Imam, as patient as he was, had his limits. She could laugh as she looked back on it now, but it certainly hadn't been funny at the time.  
  
"So, I just kind of stumbled across this virus that was siphoning money from the financing operation. It was taking money in such small amounts that no one noticed, and it would automatically adjust the accounting software to compensate for the minute loss." She smiled at the complexity of thought that had gone into creating the virus. "I wish I could claim credit for creating it, it really was a brilliant idea."  
  
"Can we save the Computer Virus Appreciation Society meeting for later," he only half joked.  
  
Rolling her eyes, she continued. "It wasn't just a financing operation, it was a division of The Company." She shrugged. "When I found that out, I decided to adjust the virus slightly." Now she smiled with pride. "The original programming called for money to be sent to a numbered account at that ZurichBanc on Callais, all I did was double the virus back on itself. I set up another numbered account so that a tiny amount of the money the original hacker was stealing was sent to my account instead, and he'd think the company had just dropped their profit margin a bit. That was six years ago." *Tiny amount,* she thought to herself, *just imagine how much money that guy's making off with.*  
  
"So you virused the virus." He raised his eyebrows, the kid really was very, very damn smart. If the virus was found, it would be the original hacker that was tracked, her signature would probably be lost in the shuffle. And she'd not technically been stealing from the Company itself, but from the other hacker, though that was a very loose technicality should she ever need to defend herself in court. Plus, if The Company really wanted her, they'd have her. He knew that for certain. Still, he was proud of her and in awe of her at the same time. *How the hell does she manage do that to me?* he wondered silently.  
  
"Something like that." She reached into the box and pulled out a digital download device. "I've got a chip in my handheld that keeps me 'anonymous' for the most part, anyone who might be tracking me, well the best they'd be able to get would be the planet I was on. And with a planet as populated as New Sydney, I was pretty safe. I'd never use it here, though. And I probably wouldn't use it from the ship unless we were planning to do some major starjumps." She snapped the download device onto her handheld. "With this I can download real currency to the chips and never have to step foot onto Callais. Downside, I can only download one chip every six months without raising any alarms."  
  
Riddick listened to Jack's explanation of her 'system' and it sounded pretty damn near flawless. Picking up one of the chips he turned it over in his hand, giving Jack a half smile. "So. What're we going to do with all this money, Bonnie?"  
  
Jack smiled widely. Not only was he accepting the money, but he was accepting her as a partner. That meant even more to her. It was a long way from the relationship she wanted, but they had some things to work out, working together would give them the chance to do that. "I dunno, Clyde. I hear tell there's a big black-market thing for computerized eyeballs going on."  
  
Shaking his head a bit, Riddick tossed her the chip. "I was thinking more along the lines of a refit for the ship, she could use some more shielding and a weaponry upgrade. Especially if I'm going to be hauling you around," he joked. "Trouble just seems to follow you wherever you go."  
  
Jack's mood turned quickly serious again as she lay a hand on his arm. "Riddick. I really think you should think about this implant surgery Doc's been talking about. He's right, having your eyes shined is a major weakness for you. Sure it's great in the dark, and you could still have it for that, but most of the time it hurts you rather than helps you." She slid her hand down his arm and covered his large hand with her smaller one. "You could have your sight back."  
  
"I see just fine the way I am." He snapped, mentally kicking himself. He didn't want to fight with Jack about this. "Look. I can't be down for six months. I can't stay here that long. And what happens when a merc comes gunning for me and I can't see at all? What am I supposed to do then? How can I defend myself, or you."  
  
"I can take care of myself, and no one is going to come looking for you here. You said so yourself, this is the ass end of space and everyone thinks this place is dead. Don't worry about the other people, if Doc talks to them they won't make you leave." It pulled at her heart a bit to know that she could have stayed there for the rest of her life and no one would have minded at all, but Riddick would never be allowed to stay for any length of time.  
  
He shook his head. "I can't take that chance, Jack."  
  
Jack licked her lips, trying desperately to think of options. "Ok. How about this. We get that refit, get me the computer equipment I need, then you take me in close enough to hack the main Company computer. I can delete all your records, it'd be like you never existed for them."  
  
"No it wouldn't." He appreciated that Jack wanted to help, he really did, but as smart as she was she was still very naïve about some things. "All that would do is erase my records, doesn't mean they can't still offer the bounty for my head. You can erase computer memory, but human memory is a lot harder."  
  
Chewing hard on her bottom lip, she set her mind to work again. "Ok. In that case, what we need is something that makes them want to take you off the bounty hunter's black list. We need blackmail material, like the information you had on Sigma 3." She didn't actually know what he had, only that he'd had something.  
  
"That shit's long gone and ancient history, Jack. No one cares anymore."  
  
"Maybe not about that, but do you think the Company has really kept its nose clean all these years? If I had the right equipment, I could systematically hack into their files until I found something." She smiled at him. "And once I get inside and get what I need, I can still delete your records."  
  
"You're pretty cocksure of yourself," he said, raising an eyebrow. "Remember, I tried hacking into their system. That's how Johns found me the first time."  
  
She crossed her arms over her chest, jutting her chin out defiantly. "Well, you didn't have me that time."  
  
Riddick couldn't help smiling at her. "I suppose you're just that damn good?"  
  
A slow, confident smile spread over her face. "Yeah. I'm just that damn good. So after I do this, you'll let Doc do the implants? There won't be any reason why you can't stay on D2 while you recover if you weren't on the list."  
  
There wasn't any question in her mind that she could do it, she was determined that she would do it, whatever it took. Riddick had to admire that kind of confidence, even if it could have dangerous consequences. "Yeah, Jack. If we can get through this crazy idea of yours alive and stay out of prison, I'll let Doc do the surgery."  
  
Jack held her hand out to shake Riddick's. "Partners?"  
  
"I don't do 'partners'," he said, raising an eyebrow. "Its my ship, I'm the captain, case closed."  
  
Cocking her head to the side, Jack smiled. "It's my money." She could see that Riddick wasn't buying it. Her smile faltered and faded. "Look, Riddick, if you can't trust me with this, then maybe you should just take the money and go." It was a bluff, but she had to know he really wanted her there. She stood up and started to turn toward the door.  
  
Riddick caught her hand before she could walk away. "Don't go." He hesitated a moment, as if not quite sure what to say. "Turns out I do need a good engineer after all. And a hacker wouldn't hurt either." He gritted his teeth, he found it was harder to ask her to go with him than he thought it would be. "I want you to come with me, I'm just used to doing things my way. I need to know that if I tell you to do something, you're going to do it. It's going to be dangerous going and I need you to follow orders, for your own good and the good of me and the ship."  
  
Jack could see his point. "Ok. Deal." A smile tugged at her lips again. "Partners?"  
  
Smiling, Riddick rolled his eyes. "Ok, fine. Partners."  
  
He was still holding his hand in hers as she looked down at him. Catching her bottom lip between her teeth, she forced herself to ask the question. "So, where does this leave us? Just partners? Friends? Something else?" Rubbing his thumb over her smooth knuckles, he brought her hand to his lips and, turning it over, kissed the palm of her hand. She felt a thousand butterflies take flight in her stomach.  
  
Looking back up at her, he shrugged slightly. "I guess this leaves us at the beginning, we'll just have to se where it goes from there."  
  
FIN? I don't think so.  
  
A/N I had no idea when I started writing this that there would be so much of a STORY for the characters to tell, but apparently they had different ideas. There is so much more that I want to do with them, but this has already gone on for 37 chapters. I will be starting a sequel to What Are The Odds that will be a continuation of the story and will tie up some loose ends and get into more of the story of Jack and Riddick against the system. Alejandro will be back, as will Doc and Amy, and you'll probably get a chance to actually meet Akemi and Sloane. So, for all my faithful readers, THANK YOU SO MUCH for your support and encouragement and keep your eyes open for part 2.  
  
Love and Hugs to all,  
  
Shaz 


	38. Sequel Preview

Author's Note:  
  
I was just wondering if there was still any interest in this story? I've been thinking about the sequel and the characters are FINALLY starting to talk to me again. I have a little snippet that may or may not end up in the sequel and thought you might like to read it. Please review and tell me if you like it/don't like it think it's IC/don't think it's IC:  
  
"What is your problem, Riddick?" Jack demanded, pushing a long strand of hair out of her eyes.  
  
"You really want the truth?" The expressionless mask had reasserted itself over Riddick's features.  
  
"No, asshole, I want you to lie to me," she said sarcastically, "I enjoy that kind of thing."  
  
Fighting the urge to smile at Jack's feisty attitude, Riddick took his time pouring himself a cup of coffee and settled himself into one of the galley chairs. Propping his booted feet up on the table, he smiled at the annoyed look on Jack's face. "What? My ship, my table, I can put my boots on it if I fucking want to."  
  
"Whatever." Jack threw the shop towel she'd been wiping her hands with onto the counter. "So, are you going to answer my question or not?" Not waiting for an answer, she pulled the fridge door roughly open and grabbed a bottle of fruit juice and sat down in a chair opposite Riddick, consciously mimicking his pose.  
  
There was a long, uncomfortable silence as he sat there, looking at her before he finally spoke. "The truth is, you scare the hell out of me."  
  
Jack's mouth dropped open. *Did I hear him correctly?* "I scare YOU? Are you cracked?"  
  
Riddick's throaty laughter filled the small galley. "Oh, yeah. I'm pretty damned sure I am." He could tell from the look on Jack's face that she was beginning to believe that too. "I've been completely out of my mind since I figured out that this sexy piece of ass I'd been following around Orion station was none other that 'My Little Jack'." His voice was dripping sarcasm. "So, 'Little Jack' was all grown up. Ok, I could deal with that. Get my heads straightened out so to speak and figured if I just avoided you that you'd crawl back into that space of my memory where you were 'safe'. But NO! You couldn't do that. Everywhere I turn, there you are and I just can't think of you the same way I used to, so I try to pretend it doesn't matter. But then I realize, it DOES matter and now I can't get you out of my brain. And every time I look at you I want to tear your clothes off and fuck you senseless, until you don't remember anyone but me. Then, at the same time, I get all 'big brotherly' and I want to protect you from guys JUST LIKE ME. So now I have this dilemma, which part of my brain do I go with? And I figure, well, the longer I'm around her the easier the decision should be, right? WRONG. I don't know whether I'm comin or goin and I don't like that feeling."  
  
Jack stared at him for a while, processing the information. "You know, I think that's the most words I've ever heard you speak at one time." 


End file.
